Naruto: Sage of Konoha
by BigHarlock
Summary: After the Kyuubi is sealed inside of Naruto, Jiraiya, fearing for his safety, adopts the boy and raises him among the Toads. Watch as Naruto grows up to become the next Great Sage of Konoha! Longer summary inside.
1. Prologue

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Prologue**

_**After a powerful Nine Tailed Demon Fox is sealed within the baby Naruto, the legendary Sage Jiraiya adopts the child and raises him among the Toads as his son. Fearing for the child's life, Jiraiya trains him. Watch as Naruto grows to become the next great Sage of Konoha! What awaits father and son in the future? Booze? Women? Battles? Or something darker perhaps? Only time will tell! (**__**There are no set pairings.)**_

* * *

Jiraiya of the Sannin gazed out over the destruction bordering the walls of his beloved home village. His spiky white hair moved with the ominous breeze around him, his horned forehead protector, engraved with the kanji for oil, seemed to glow as the moon's light reflected against it. He took a deep breath and wiped his with his sleeves as if he had been crying, but no tears were present on his face. He turned around to look at the Ritual Altar, where his god son lay sleeping, unaware of the seal on his stomach, or the corpses of his parents, locked in a silent embrace, hovering over him as if protecting him.

Jiraiya had gotten there just as Kushina Uzumaki erected the barrier that would keep the beast from escaping while her husband, the Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze sealed it within their newborn son. A beast which was said to topple mountains and create Tsunamis with but a swipe of its tail: The Nine Tailed Demon Fox.

Jiraiya looked up at the moon again, not looking as his sensei and several other ninjas made the scene. Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage, with a heavy heart and the ghost of tears in his eyes picked up the child, wrapping him in a blanket and walked slowly to Jiraiya, his armor and helmet still damaged heavily from the battle.

"Jiraiya," said Sarutobi quietly, the Toad Sage not looking at him or giving any indication that he'd heard. "I know this is hard for you, but I need you to come to the tower with me. We must discuss what is to be done about the village. My ANBU will take care of Minato and Kushina."

Jiraiya was about to respond to Sarutobi, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash and the sound of many shuriken flying through the air rang in his ears.

" _Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" _

"_NEEDLE JIZO!" _Jiraiya practically screamed as He grabbed his sensei and the infant, his spiky white hair bursting from its ponytail and wrapping around the three of them protectively. The blanket of hair petrified into the density of steel. Just as his hair enclosed around them thousands of Shiuriken came flying from the trees, embedding themselves in the shell of needle like hair. Many of the shuriken passed over them and struck down surrounding ANBU. As soon as the shuriken clones vanished in a puff of smoke, Jiraiya released Sarutobi and Minato's child.

"I'll meet you at the tower," said Jiraiya. Sarutobi nodded and sped off in the direction of the village, followed closely by his security detail.

Jiraiya spotted the attacker in the trees, moving quickly to intercept the Third. Jiraiya got there first however and blocked the assailant's path. Jiraiya glared at his foe, taking a wide stance.

"Do not get in my way Sage," said the attacker, his face hidden by a black hood and a white mask with a black flame pattern and a single hole for his eye. Jiraiya glared back at his opponent. He could sense a massive killing intent from this man. This was no normal Shinobi.

"You are the one behind all of this I presume," he said, not moving from his stance. "The area reeks of your fighting aura. You fought Minato."

"Yes, and I nearly had him too," replied the masked man. "Now move, so I may retrieve what belongs to me."

"If you mean the fox, you can forget it."

"Unfortunately, I cannot forget it. If you insist on dying, I will accommodate you."

"Then let's get this over with!" Jiraiya shouted, his hands flying into the hand seals for Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. "_Katon: Endan!"_

A burst of fire flew from the Sages lips and struck the masked man. Jiraiya nearly dropped his stance in surprise as he saw his enemy make no attempt to avoid it. He gasped and jumped out of the way as a Kunai nearly sliced through his neck. He looked at his enemy and saw a flash of red from the hole in his mask.

_"A… Sharingan?" _he thought to himself. So his enemy was an Uchiha. Things had just gotten more interesting for the Toad Sage.

Jiraiya landed about ten feet away and took his stance again. The masked man clutched his chest and growled in pain and irritation.

"That damned Fourth Hokage," He said, looking at the corpse of his fallen enemy. "His seal is disrupting my chakra. That move nearly took it all out of me."

"So you avoided my attack with a Jutsu?" Jiraiya said, catching the man's attention. The man stood at his full height.

"It seems that I will have to come back later," the man spat with venom. "I will return, Sage. And with that, I must bid you farewell."

His Sharingan lit up and his entire body seemed to shrink into the hole as if being sucked in. His body and the air around it distorted in a spiral pattern. It swirled around the hole until nothing was left but the Sharingan eye, and it too vanished seconds later.

Jiraiya spit on the ground and looked at his dead student, a content smile etched onto Minato's face. Jiraiya didn't know exactly what Minato had gone through to battle that man, but it had Jiraiya scared, not for himself, but for Minato's son. He put his hand in the Ram seal and vanished in a puff of smoke and leaves.

* * *

"I know what I saw Sensei," said Jiraiya. "He definitely had a Sharingan eye. And we both know that the Uchiha were absolutely no help in repelling that damned fox. Where the hell were they?"

Jiraiya sat on the windowsill of the Hokage's office, his back against the frame. Sarutobi was smoking his pipe from his spot behind Minato's desk.

"What evidence to we have that the Uchiha clan had anything to do with the attack?"

"Madara Uchiha could control it with his Sharingan. I think this places them as our prime suspects."

Sarutobi sat silently for a time, puffing absently on his pipe. His eyes scanned slowly across the room to the basket at his side, the small infant laying quietly, staring up at the former Hokage with big, sea blue orbs. He looked just like his father, aside from the whisker marks on his cheeks.

"I will discuss what you found with the council," he said, putting out his pipe for the sake of the baby's lungs. "But for now, with the crisis averted, we should discuss what to do with Minato's son."

"Naruto," said Jiraiya quietly, gazing down at the baby.

"What?"

"Minato and Kushina named him Naruto."

"Isn't that the name of the protagonist of your first book? _Tale of the Gutsy Ninja_. I quite enjoyed it."

"Yeah," Jiraiya chuckled warmly. "Too bad it didn't sell, but Minato seemed to love it."

"I have to say I liked your new book even more," Sarutobi pulled out his copy of _Icha Icha Paradise _and tapped the cover. "It would make a killing as a series."

"You keep a copy of it in your desk?" asked Jiraiya with a lewd smirk. The Third Hokage coughed and tried to hide the faint redness in his cheeks.

"Back to the matter at hand," he growled threateningly, eliciting a laugh from the pervy sage. "I'll be keeping young Naruto here at the hospital until he is fit enough to live in the orphanage."

"The orphanage?" asked Jiraiya. "Are you nuts? People will surely target him in there. People are morons; you know how things are for a Jinchuuriki."

"Exactly," said a new voice, deep and cold, slow and calculating. "Which is why I must object to your idea Sarutobi."

Jiraiya's face darkened, as did the Third's when they spied Shimura Danzo, the bandaged and crippled war hawk stepping across the room with his cane in hand.

"What do you want, you old fart?" Asked Jiraiya, but Sarutobi held up a hand to silence him.

"What I want, is to use the child for what he is meant to be," said Danzo coldly, staring down at Naruto with a hungry gleam in his eye.

"He is not a weapon Shimura," said Sarutobi hotly. "He is an infant and a citizen of Konoha."

"He is a monster," spat Danzo. "And everyone knows it. People are whispering Hiruzen. The rumors are spreading that this… _thing_ is the Nine Tailed Fox in human form. They are afraid. Imagine who else we could scare with this kind of power. Iwagakure? Kumogakure? The possibilities—"

"Will not happen," said Sarutobi, taking a paper from his personal stationary and scribbling on it, marking his signature on the bottom furiously before stamping it with his personal seal. "From this moment on, the knowledge of Naruto's condition is an S-ranked secret. Anyone, be they Shinobi or citizen, to discuss it outside of my office and in Naruto-kun's presence will be executed. Do I make myself clear?"

"You are making a mistake Saru," hissed Danzo. Sarutobi shot out of his chair, the killing intent washing off of him making Naruto cry, Jiraiya jump and Danzo sweat.

"If you question my authority as Hokage, the mistake will be yours to pay for," growled Sarutobi.

"You are not Hokage anymore—"

"As of this moment," Said Hiruzen with a deep laced venom. "I am enacting my authority as former Hokage of the Leaf. I will request that the citizen council allow me to return to my position. Now get out of this office."

Danzo stared at Hiruzen for what seemed like, to Jiraiya, an eternity. The only sound was Naruto's wails reverberating against the walls. Danzo shot a look at the baby and sneered.

"Shut that creature up," he said, backing out of the office and slamming the door behind him. Sarutobi collapsed into his chair and heaved a sigh. He went to pick up Naruto, but saw the baby was already being held and consoled, albeit unsuccessfully, by Jiraiya.

"I never expected you to be the fatherly type," said Sarutobi.

"I'm not," said Jiraiya. "But as his godfather, I want to be there for him."

"I can't let you take him Jiraiya," said Sarutobi, looking at Jiraiya darkly from the corner of his eye. "I need your spy network now more than ever."

"But if we just leave him to the citizens, who knows what will happen?" Jiraiya sat down at his spot at the window with Naruto in his arms. The baby had stopped crying and was gripping a lock of the Sage's white hair. "You heard Danzo. I can't just let him be alone."

"What do you want me to do?" snapped Sarutobi. "Just let you take him into the field? You are the Toad Sage, one of our greatest assets! You are in no position to start a family!"

Jiraiya was about to shoot back at him when he suddenly stopped and went wide eyed.

"I don't have a human family," he said with a small smile. "But I do have a Ma and Pa out there."

"W-what?" Sarutobi looked at Jiraiya with shock. "You cannot be serious!"

"Just hear me out Sensei," Jiraiya said with a grin that told that he found his idea to be both brilliant and hilarious. "If Naruto stays with Ma and Pa, he'll be well taken care of in one of the safest places in the world. No one will ever know he is there and I can check up on him all the time."

"I'd rather he just lived with Tsunade," Sarutobi grumbled.

Jiraiya grinned. Tsunade was one of his oldest friends, and in the old days he'd held quite a candle for the legendary kunoichi. With her ageless blonde hair and massive bust size, she was considered the most beautiful woman in the Land of Fire. Despite her position as the world's greatest medic, her bedside manner left a lot to be desired. Get caught looking down her shirt, and you would be in the hospital for an additional six months thanks to her monstrous strength and demonic temperament. Jiraiya learned that one the hard way.

Her alcoholism and gambling habits were as legendary as her strength and medical skills. Sarutobi was being sarcastic as she was the furthest thing from motherly when it came down to it. Aside from her apprentice, Shizune, she loved no one.

"I could ask her."

Sarutobi looked up at him with a deadpanned expression.

"Are you really this dead set on not allowing him to live in the orphanage?"

"I just want him to be safe, and to have a family, even if they aren't human," Jiraiya said quietly, looking down at his god son with a pained expression. Sarutobi siged and stood up, looking out his window.

"I'll tell you what," he said. "If you can convince Tsunade to come back and raise Naruto, I'd welcome her with open arms. But I can't condone him living with—"

"It's not like he'll be living off of a diet of bugs. They have real food there too you know."

Sarutobi did not look at Jiraiya, telling the Sage that that was exactly what he was worried about. Sarutobi sighed and looked at Jiraiya sadly.

"Talk to Tsunade first. Then we will discuss Mount Myoboku."

"Let me take the boy with me."

"What?"

"I think I'd have an easier time convincing her than I would without Naruto. Just give me bottles and milk and such and I'll be good to go."

"Are you an idiot Jiraiya? Do you know what it would look like if people saw Jiraiya of the Sannin wandering with a baby?"

Jiraiya responded by performing a henge into a version of himself with no face paint, shorter hair and a different outfit. Sarutobi sighed and looked back out the window.

"I won't let you go alone."

"This is something I have to do alone," said Jiraiya with a dark expression.

"Why? Why do you insist on becoming this child's guardian?"

"Because I've already lost four students and I refuse to lose this."

Sarutobi stood silently as Jiraiya did his best to keep a straight face, despite the emotional pain he was obviously experiencing.

"One week."

"What?"

"One week to prove to me that you can raise a child. That means diapers, feeding, burping, all of it. Prepare for one week of no sleep, hours of crying and days of anguish."

"Is it really that bad sensei?"

"I raised three. I know the horrors of war."

* * *

One week later, Jiraiya stepped out of the hotel room he'd been living in with Naruto. He had bags under his eyes and could not help but yawn every few seconds. Sarutobi was right, it had been a week of hell, but the Toad Sage had triumphed again.

The first day consisted of Sarutobi teaching Jiraiya the basics, changing diapers, feeding and the like, as well as how to play with Naruto and keep him entertained. He learned the hard way –meaning a slap on the back of the head- that teaching an infant to use a kunai was a definite no-no. They spent the night in the Hokage Mansion with Sarutobi.

The second day was only harder. Naruto had kept waking up throughout the night, crying for food, changing and for what seemed like no reason at all. Sarutobi reasoned that it was the lack of a mother figure, but Jiraiya reasoned that it was just the baby being a little smartass. He also learned the hard way that calling a crying infant a "bratty little shit" was also a no-no. They spent two more agonizing days with the Hokage, who was mostly too wrapped up in his work to mind them, and left Jiraiya on his own with his godson. Eventually Jiraiya got into the swing of things and Sarutobi decided to test their mettle by having them stay on their own in a hotel for the remainder of the week. Jiraiya was put in an impressively bad mood due to the fact that Naruto had completely eaten up his time for personal research at the bath houses. Don't think he didn't try, but Naruto's crying only served to get him caught by some Military Police officers and scolded by the Hokage.

He used toad summons to monitor his spy network as well, but juggling the two was running him ragged.

After the week was up, Jiraiya went to the Hokage's office, Naruto placed in a harness kept strapped to his back next to his summoning scroll. Naruto babbled to himself as they walked through the village square, citizens shooting glares at Jiraiya's back as they walked. He had Naruto dressed in an orange tee shirt and dark blue pants with sandals just his size. Normally he would just body flicker, but due to the fact that infants are so fragile, it was not an option. Jiraiya walked up the steps to the Hokage's office and stepped up to the lovely receptionist.

"Greetings Jiraiya-sama," she said cheerily. "How is Naruto-kun today?"

"He's fine, despite being a complete brat. That thing they say about babies helping single men pick up chicks is dead wrong."

She giggled at him, which got him to grin lecherously. Perhaps he was wrong.

"Hokage-sama is a bit swamped, but I'll let you through."

"Thank you Miss," he said, nodding at her as he opened the door to see Sarutobi scribbling furiously at a stack of papers and smoking his pipe. "So Sensei, do I pass?"

Sarutobi looked up at his former student and set down his pen with a smile.

"I must admit Jiraiya," said the reinstated Third Hokage. "Your instinct as a parent has caught me off guard. You have my permission to leave with Naruto on the B-ranked mission to find Tsunade Senju and inform her of the attack by the Nine-tailed fox."

"Thanks Sensei," he said. "But what about the council? Shouldn't they be fighting you tooth and nail about this?"

"Surprisingly, that isn't the case," said Sarutobi, taking a puff from his pipe. "Danzo fought me of course, but the rest of them want Naruto gone. Good riddance they said. Homura even suggested that taking care of a baby would be a good way of grooming you to become a Hokage yourself. He said it would make you think about the responsibilities of a leader."

Jiraiya grimaced at the idea but didn't feel like arguing. He was too tired.

"I do have one condition on you leaving, and I won't take no for an answer," Hiruzen said.

"What is it Sensei?"

"Be careful. You know that Tsunade loved Kushina. Let her know carefully."

Jiraiya nodded and adjusted Naruto, who was cooing quietly and pulling on Jiraiya's hair.

"We'll be going then. If I don't find her within the next two weeks, I'll be back."

"Do you have everything you need? Bottles? Milk? Diapers?"

"In sealing scrolls Sensei."

"What about blankets? It gets cold at night and I don't want him getting sick."

"I have those too Sensei, as well as medicine, toys and such. Stop being such a worry wart."

"I'm sorry," said Sarutobi with a sad smile. "It's just that I have not had the opportunity to call myself grandpa yet and I'm getting worried that my sons will not be sowing the seeds of Sarutobi any time soon."

"Gross."

"Shut up."

Jiraiya smiled at his sensei, who grinned back. Jiraiya walked out of the door for the first time in his career as a ninja and took the stairs to the ground floor.

* * *

When Jiraiya reached the gate leading out of the village he felt a familiar presence behind him and turned to see his old teammate Orochimaru leaning against the village wall with his trademarked serpentine grin plastered on his porcelain face. Orochimaru was in his shinobi gear as usual with his black hair tied in a neat ponytail.

Orochimaru and Jiraiya went back a long way. They had been in service together for almost thirty years. They'd trained together, fought together, laughed together and cried together. But in recent years, with Tsunade's departure and Minato's place as the Fourth Hokage, the two sages had grown apart. It wasn't easy for Jiraiya, and Orochimaru's frustration with Sarutobi for naming Minato Namikaze his successor only increased the rift between the two friends. Now they barely spoke, and when they did, it was always short and hostile.

"Hey Orochimaru, what's up?" Jiraiya said with an uneasy smile. He never saw Orochimaru anymore, and if what he'd heard about possible experiments on human subjects were true, he didn't want to.

"So the dead last is a daddy?" Orochimaru said slyly. "Who did you knock up?"

Jiraiya glared at Orochimaru and scoffed.

"This is my godson Orochimaru," he said, moving in closer. "I think you know whose child it is."

Orochimaru dropped his smile.

"I also know that Danzo wants what's inside of it. Watch yourself Jiraiya," the Snake Sannin grinned cruelly. "I might come and take him first to run a few tests."

Jiraiya's expression changed from one of disapproval to one of restrained anger. Orochimaru's tongue flicked out of his mouth before he turned and walked away.

Jiraiya took a few steps backwards before leaving at an upsetting pace. The ninja guarding the gates looked at eachother, not having heard the exchange and shrugged.

That was the last time Jiraiya and Orochimaru would speak to each other on anything resembling civil terms.

* * *

**So begins the tale of Naruto the Sage. Jiraiya knows that there is a rogue Uchiha on the loose, and with Danzo and Orochimaru looking over his shoulders, he must protect Naruto at all costs. Even from the Hokage's wishes. Will Jiraiya get what he wants? Or will the woman named Tsunade provide for the infant? Only time will tell.**


	2. Chapter 1: Gambling Princess

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 1**

**Gambling Princess**

* * *

Jiraiya and Naruto had been walking for about eight hours through the Land of Fire. They were headed southwest towards Tanzaku-Gai, a frequent haunt for Tsunade of the Sannin and her apprentice Shizune. The large city was well known for its brothels and gambling halls, as well as several of Jiraiya's favorite bath houses. He was looking forward to it, but at the rate they were going, coupled with the fact that he had to stop every four hours or so to feed the infant on his back, he estimated a week's travel. If he'd been on his own, it would only have taken two days.

He sat down in a clearing and started a fire, prepared to rest for the night. The sun was just hitting the horizon and Naruto was sleeping quietly. He set down a sealing scroll and summoned a bottle of milk from within it. He opened another revealing a big blue tarp, which he laid on the ground. He then opened a scroll containing a bed for Naruto, just a basket lined with a cushion and blankets.

Jiraiya changed Naruto's diaper, burying the offending garment in some bushes nearby with disgust. He then took Naruto from his harness and fed him.

"I've had you for a week kid," he said to Naruto, who just stared at him as he drank from the bottle. "And I have to say, this has been the hardest part of my career as a shinobi."

When Naruto had finished his bottle, Jiraiya put him in his basket and sat with his back against a tree, staring into the fire. He pulled the basket close to him and settled in for the night. He bit his thumb and went through several hand seals, planting his hand firmly on the ground.

_"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."_

With a puff of smoke, a large toad appeared. It had orange skin covered in blue markings. He had bandages wrapped around his body and left foreleg, and wore a necklace with seven large beads on it, with the kanji for "loyalty" on the largest.

"What's up Boss?" it asked.

"I need you to keep watch for us tonight, okay Gama?" Jiraiya requested quietly.

"No problem Jiraiya. Who's the kid?"

"This is Minato's son, Naruto."

"Oh," the toad said with surprise. "Word reached the mountain that the Kyuubi no Yoko attacked Konaha. Are the rumors true?"

Jiraiya nodded solemnly at his familiar.

"I'm sorry Boss," said the toad with a hint of sadness. "Minato was a great summoner."

Jiraiya smiled.

"I'm sure Naruto will be some day as well. I need to get some sleep for the night. Wake me up before the sun comes up."

"Sure thing Boss. Are you that tired?"

"You try taking care of a kid on your own for a week."

"Point taken."

* * *

The next few days went by without many problems other than a general lack of sleep from Jiraiya. They continued on their way with Gama being summoned each night to keep watch. Sometimes he would come with them to keep them company. Jiraiya would sometimes take Naruto out of the harness and hold him while they walked.

Naruto was in Jiraiya's arms making more noise than usual. Jiraiya looked down at him and saw Naruto squealing and reaching at Gama. Jiraiya laughed and set Naruto on Gama's back with no protest from the toad. At least until Naruto started drooling on him and slapping the top of his head enthusiastically, getting a few good chuckles from Jiraiya and grumbles from Gama.

"I think we could get there faster if I just gave you a ride you know," croaked Gama.

"I don't know, I don't want a bumpy ride to jostle him," replied Jiraiya, looking down at Naruto.

"I'll be careful Jiraiya. If I take it nice and easy we could be there in two more days, I don't need the sleep like you do."

Jiraiya considered the offer, but decided not to risk it.

"Let's just walk."

"Sure thing Boss."

As they made their way they passed through several smaller settlements. A few of the shinobi and citizens there stopped to wave at the Toad Sage. Several women outside of the local bath houses stopped to shake their fists and glare at him.

"You see that Naruto?" he mumbled to the boy. "That's called the price of creativity."

The infant cooed in return.

"I know, you'd think they'd be more understanding of my genius as a writer," he said, acting offended. It was obvious to Gama that he was just bored.

"We can stop if you want Boss," croaked the Toad. "We haven't looked in a bath house together in weeks!"

"I'll be fine," said Jiraiya. "For now at least."

"Suit yourself," croaked Gama, sounding almost… disappointed.

As they approached the town marking their half way point, Naruto began to get cranky. Jiraiya decided that since they were in a more populated area, it would be a good time to rest and put himself under cover. Jiraiya dismissed Gama and performed a henge. His hair was much shorter, just past his neck as it had been in his childhood. His face paint was gone along with the wart on his nose and his forehead protector. His shinobi gear was replaced with civilian clothes, a brown leather coat, some dirtied trousers and sandals.

He placed Naruto in the harness and strapped it to his back, proceeding into town. It was approaching noon time, so he decided it would be best to get some lunch for himself and feed Naruto. He stopped at a local restaurant, just a small ramen bar and ordered some lunch for himself. He had Naruto in one arm, feeding him a bottle with the same hand while struggling to eat his ramen with his other hand, more often dropping the noodles into the bowl and splattering soup everywhere than getting it into his own mouth. Eventually he managed the impossible and finished his food at the same time as Naruto. He placed the bottle back in its scroll and ordered a glass of water.

"He's so cute," said the waitress behind the counter as she washed his bowl with a smile. "Where did he get those adorable whisker marks?"

"He, eh," Jiraiya struggled for an explaination. "Got 'em from his mother."

It wasn't a complete lie. The marks appeared as a birthmark from the Kyuubi after all.

"Is it a clan thing?" asked the waitress. She was cute, with long brown hair up in a ponytail, but the questions were a bit annoying to the Sage.

"Yeah, something like that."

Jiraiya reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet Gama-chan, placing several Ryo on the counter. Naruto began making noises and reaching for the wallet. Jiraiya shrugged and gave it to him, as Naruto began babbling and playing with his new toy.

"Well he's so well behaved. He must have a good dad," she said with a wink before returning to her chores. That comment got a smile out of Jiraiya. He finished his water and put Naruto in his harness before moving on his way. Several men, walked by him, one of them trying to shove Jiraiya out of the way. Jiraiya was not one to be bulled and did not budge, just shoving past them himself, glaring hotly.

"Hey Nanami!" one of them shouted over the counter. "Your damn boyfriend still owes us his protection for this month! "

He had a medium height and build, wearing a brown suit, sunglasses, some fine looking leather gloves and slicked black hair. His two compatriots did not look as well off and were as simply dressed as Jiraiya was.

Jiraiya took a few steps backwards and accidentally bumped into a large horse. He turned and saw that it was hitched to a very fancy looking wagon. He assumed the men came in on this thing.

"Kenji isn't here today," he heard the waitress reply with an edge of fear in her voice. "He was in Konoha to meet his uncle, but he hasn't come back yet."

"That's a damn shame," said the man in the suit. "But Takuma-sama needs to make a living. The Kyuubi no Yoko's appearance in Konoha has disrupted his business, and he needs to collect."

"Wait, what?" the girl's voice faltered. Obviously, she had not yet heard the news.

"That's right. So if Kenji-kun didn't make it that means his debts fall to you. So either pay up, or you'll have to come with us."

"Come with you?" she began to sound afraid.

"Takuma-sama owns a brothel in Tanzaku-Gai. He needs more… workers," the man sneered while looking her up and down. His presumed bodyguards grinned lecherously.

"She obviously isn't looking for a new job," said Jiraya from his spot by the horse, a stern look on his face.

"No one asked you," said the man. He slapped one of his men in the arm. "Sanji, go teach this punk a lesson. Watch out for the baby though, we wouldn't want to hurt his widdle head."

The thug named Sanji chuckled at his Boss' jab and approached Jiraiya. Jiraiya sized up his opponent and determined that this punk was no shinobi. He had a thick beard and a Mohawk, and had very tanned skin. He looked like a foreigner, probably from the Land of Lightning.

Sanji walked up to Jiraiya and moved to shove him. Jiraiya sidestepped the guy's attempted push and gave him two quick jabs to the abdomen, one to the sternum and finished with a palm to the forehead. The guy went down hard and Jiraiya knocked him out with a heel to the Sanji's temple.

The other thug, smaller than Sanji, clean shaven and bald, charged at Jiraiya with a high pitched battle cry. Jiraya tripped him when he got close and gave him an elbow to the back of the neck, knocking him out instantly.

Jiraiya stepped up to the loan shark and grabbed his collar.

"That your horse?" he asked, tilting his head back towards the wagon in question. The loan shark nodded slowly, shivering in his loafers. "Well I have a proposition for you. You give me the horse, and you pay off her debt from your own pocket, and I don't leave you in the middle of the woods naked and bleeding to death."

The man nodded quickly.

"I'll be glad to, in fact," he reached into his back pocket shakily, Jiraiya watching him like a hawk. He pulled out his wallet. "I'd like to make a personal investment in this fine establishment, yeah!"

He pulled out a large wad of bills and threw it at Nanami. She caught the money with a shocked expression and began thanking Jiraiya shakily, tears in her eyes.

"That's kind of you," said Jiraiya with a much softer expression. He shoved the loan shark towards the wagon. "You're driving."

"Thank you so much Oji-sama," she said with a genuinely happy smile. "How can I pay you back for this?"

"Just wait for that boyfriend of yours. The civilian casualties in Konoha were low, I'm sure he made it out fine."

"I'll hold out hope."

"Good," he said, lifting the harness a bit so she could wave goodbye to Naruto. She laughed a bit sadly and waved at the baby.

Jiraiya hopped in the back of the wagon, dragging the thugs with him.

"Where are we going?" asked the loan shark, afraid to look Jiraiya in the eye.

"Tanzaku-Gai. I have some people I need to visit." Jiraiya tossed the men into the back of the wagon and hopped up front with the man and Naruto. He took Naruto out of the harness and placed the baby in his lap, smiling contentedly the whole time. "What's your name friend?"

The loan shark looked startled at the question and cleared his throat, pulling the reins and setting the wagon into motion. "My name is Kichirou."

"Well Kichirou-san, let's get a move on," Jiraiya yawned and leaned back in his seat, Naruto chewing on Gama-chan happily.

* * *

**Three Days later**

Tsunade Senju was drunk. Her hair was down, and her jacket was off, her shirt open revealing her sizable cleavage to all of the Land of Fire. She had been playing Black Jack at this casino for hours, and she'd nearly lost all of her money. She had however won a prize from the raffle at a traveling carnival the week before. A piglet. A smelly, pooping, piglet. Shizune had named it Tonton. Tsunade, being an optimist in the worst possible way, took winning the pig as a sign that her luck was improving. She was dead wrong and was in the red for thirty thousand Ryo.

The worst part was that this casino was owned by the gambling magnate Takuma Nori, so she knew that if her luck did not turn around in the next ten minutes or so, if the looks security was giving her told her anything, she was going to have to fight her way out.

"Shizune, blow these," she said, holding up two dice.

"Tsunade-hime," Shizune hissed in her teacher's ear. "Black Jack isn't played with dice! Where did you even get those?"

Tunade replied by emptying her sake glass and pushing them closer to Shizune's face. She was pretty drunk. Shizune sighed sadly, knowing that they wouldn't be eating for a while and blew on the dice quickly, backing off in embarrassment right after. Tsunade threw the dice on the floor with such force that it left two square holes at her feet.

"Hit me!" she slurred. The dealer shook his head and looked at Shizune strangely before dealing Tsunade another card.

"Check your hands," said the dealer, the other four players keeping their distance from the Slug Princess. The dealer looked at Tsunade's hand last and shook his head. "Twenty two. Sorry lady, but you're out of chips."

He dragged Tsunade's remaining poker chips to his pile and shooed her off.

"Come on Shizune, I'm sick of this town," said Tsunade, marching towards the exit.

"It's a good thing I got here when I did," said a familiar voice from the bar, accompanied by the sound of a baby. Tsunade didn't even turn around, just swayed in place.

"The hell do you want Jiraiya?" she demanded hotly, turning towards her old teammate. "What's with the get up? And the baby? I know it's blonde but it ain't mine!"

Jiraiya set down the sake glass he'd been drinking from and paid the bartender, slipping on the harness containing Naruto. Shizune walked up to the baby with little Tonton in her arms.

"He's so cute Jiraiya-sama!" she said, letting Naruto latch onto her finger and cooing at him. Jiraiya smiled at Tsunade's young apprentice and let her play with Naruto.

"It's the kid I need to talk to you about Tsunade. Let's get out of here so we can talk in private."

"Actually, we need to talk to your lady friend," said a large man. Great, now security was taking notice. "She owes us money."

"If money is an issue, I'm sure my good buddy will accommodate you," said Jiraiya cheerily, dragging a shaking Kichirou off of the stool next to him. "Won't you?"

"Y-yeah, whatever you want!" stammered Kichirou. "How much does she owe?"

"Thirty thousand Ryo," said the guard. "You know these guys Kichirou-sama?"

"Th-thirty thousand?" gasped the loan shark, his hair standing on end.

"That won't be a problem, will it?" asked Jiraiya. Kichirou was about to argue but felt Jiraya's grip on his shoulder. "Y-yeah, no problem. It's taken care of."

Tsunade stared at the exchange. No one had ever actually covered her debt before. The fact that Jiraiya was behind it was less of a surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

"Now that that's taken care of," said Jiraiya, leading the girls to the door. "Shall we?"

He rushed them out, knowing full well that Kichirou would not be able to pay off the debt, so it was only a matter of time before a scene started. That didn't need to happen while he had Naruto with him. He dragged them to a hotel he'd gotten and pushed them in, locking the door behind them. Tsunade took a seat in a wooden chair by the door.

"Did you two get the news yet?" asked Jiraiya solemnly. Tsunade just stared at him incredulously while he sat on the bed with Naruto.

"What the hell do you mean? And will you please tell me why you have a fucking baby?"

"Sensei!" shot Shizune, covering little Naruto's ears.

"Oh grow up Shizune."

"The village was attacked," said Jiraiya, not taking his eyes off of Naruto. Both women stopped bickering immediately.

"Attacked?" said Tsunade, sobering almost instantly. "By who?"

"The Kyuubi no Yoko. The Nine Tailed Demon Fox."

Tsunade and Shizune stared at Jiraiya with horrified expressions.

"Well, what happened? Did Minato do anything?" asked Tsunade seriously.

"I'm sorry Tsunade, but… Minato and Kushina are dead. Sarutobi-sensei is the Hokage again."

Tsunade didn't say anything. She just covered her eyes and rubbed her temples trying to make sense of the situation.

"When did it happen Jiraiya-sama?" asked Shizune, hugging her piglet closely.

"About a week and a half ago," he said. "Hime. This is their son, Naruto."

Tsunade looked up slowly at the baby in Jiraiya's lap, who stared back at her with his big sea blue eyes and a dumb smile plastered on his face. She smiled slightly and looked up at Jiraiya.

"So what do you want from me?" she asked. "This isn't a pleasure visit you old pervert."

Jiraiya shook his head and laughed.

"I was hoping that the kid would help me get laid," he laughed heartily but shrank away when Tsunade held up a fist. "Sarutobi Sensei wants you to come back to the village. We could use your help in rebuilding. I also don't want Naruto put in an orphanage so—"

"You want to dump a kid on me?" Tsunade shot up from her seat and glared at Jiraiya. "Who the hell do you think I am? A babysitter?"

"No, Tsunade," Jiraiya tried to reason with her. "It was Sensei's idea. It's either you or Mt. Myoboku."

"The toads?" Tsunade stared at him as though he were insane. "Why would you leave a baby with them?"

"Because if we leave him in the orphanage he'll just be an outcast later in life. He's already a pariah!"

"Why? What makes him so important?"

Jiraiya pulled Naruto's shirt up and held his hand over the boy's stomach, channeling a bit of chakra into the boy. A black seal faded into existence on Naruto, but the infant was none the wiser.

"He's a Jinchuuriki Tsunade. Minato sealed the fox inside of him."

Tsunade was speechless and stared at the both of them.

"So you want—"

"To protect him. He's my godson Tsunade."

Tsunade looked at the pained expression on Jiraiya's face. She shook her head.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya, but I can't."

She walked to the door. Her hand landed on the doorknob, and she shook slightly.

"Everything I love dies. I won't let myself love a kid. Especially theirs."

She opened the door and walked out, Shizune hot on her heels.

"I'm sorry Jiraiya-sama," said Shizune, wiping tears from her eyes.

"It's okay kid," said Jiraiya, smiling sadly. "I knew I was wasting my time. It was good to see you both again."

Shizune nodded and ran out the door.

* * *

Tsunade was walking quickly towards the edge of the city, wanting to be anywhere but there lest she kill her former team mate. Or anyone for that matter. In fact, she noticed, stopping to look around, the streets were barren. The few people she could see were darting around corners and heading down the street at a quick pace. A small tea house across the street was quickly emptying, the workers rushing customers out and closing up shop. Something wasn't right.

"Tsunade-sensei!" panted Shizune as she caught up to her master. "What about the village? I know you don't want to take care of Naruto-kun, but we could at least go help the village."

Tsunade crossed her arms under her sizable bust and stared at her apprentice.

"I suppose you're right. We do have an obligation as medic-nins, but I really don't want to see Jiraiya's stupid face right now."

"What's the rush ladies?" asked someone nearby. They turned to see a corpulent man with a beard and greasy grey hair sitting in a carriage pulled by two oxen, surrounded by six shinobi guards wearing Iwa headbands. The man wore some of the most expensive clothes they had ever seen and his fat fingers were covered in expensive looking rings. This was Takuma Nori, the wealthiest man in the Land of fire aside from the tycoon Gato and the Daimyo himself. So this was why everyone was hiding. "You still have a debt to pay to my casino, do you not?"

"Listen Takuma, our friend in there said he would pay off our debt," said Tsunade.

"Would this be your friend?" he asked, snapping his fingers. One of the Ninja tossed a head at Tsunade. It was Jiraiya's companion alright. It seemed he'd been beheaded for not doing his job as a loan shark. "He could not pay up, and he returned without some of the money I'd been expecting. The tragedy in Konoha has reduced my income greatly, and I do not want to starve. A man must make a living you see."

He grinned with a horrifying look of amusement and rubbed his massive belly.

"Well then you'll have to get a real job lard ass," shot Tsunade, not in the mood to be bullied by criminals. Takuma's face turned red at the insult about his weight.

"I'll have you know I worked my fingers to the bone to get where I am now!" he roared, spittle flying. "I will not allow some blonde tramp to sully my name!"

Tsunade's expression darkened, and she cracked her knuckles.

"Say that to my face, fatty!"

Takuma was livid. He could only clutch at his chest and struggle to breath as he ordered his Ninja to attack.

Two of the Ninja ran at Tsunade and Shizune, their hands speeding through hand seals.

_"Doton: Doryūha!" _they shouted in unison, as a wave of earth shot up from the ground. The two shinobi jumped on top of it and rode the wave as it barreled towards the two kunoichi. Tsunade took four bounding steps forward and drew her fist back, and struck the wave with a chakra enhanced punch.

The stone shattered to pieces and the two Ninja leapt off of the wave, only to be met with an angry Shizune in midair, her pet pig in one hand while the other was outstretched revealing a concealed device mounted to her wrist. She cocked her hand back and multiple senbon launched from the device, striking both ninja in the hearts. They clutched at their chests and fell to the ground, writhing as their hearts struggled against the needles, and poison sped through their systems.

Tsunade leapt forward before the Iwa-nins, all obviously Chunins, could react, and began systematically taking down each one with her deadly taijutsu. The first one went down with a punch to the throat, the next with a sweep of the leg and a downward strike to his chest, shattering his sternum as well as his ribs. He would die of internal bleeding or a pierced lung, whichever came first. Maybe both.

The next two tried to strike Tsunade with kunai, but she lifted her arms quickly and fluidly, her hands pointed downward as she pushed their arms upward, their weapons missing by inches. She grabbed their arms and crushed them with her seemingly infinite strength. She tossed them both into the air with ease and Shizune struck them both in the necks with her poisoned senbon.

The last two jumped forward to protect Takuma, but were caught when she grabbed their throats, the young Rock shinobi clutching helplessly at her arms.

"Do you two want to die for this sack of shit?" she whispered threateningly. They rapidly shook their heads in the negative. She lifted them off of the ground and threw them over the carriage. The frightened ninja scrambled to their feet and ran the hell out of their as fast as their legs could carry them.

Takuma was now purple in the face from both fury and fear, to fat to get himself out of his own carriage. Tsunade stepped onto the driver's seat and bent over his fat belly, her expression dangerous. He was practically foaming at the mouth.

"Boo," she whispered. And then he slumped over, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull and died. Tsunade went wide eyed and checked him with her Mystical Palm technique. She rolled her eyes and looked down at Shizune. "The fat fuck had a heart attack!"

Shizune sighed as Tsunade looked around for witnesses, and when she saw none, she began to pocket the dead man's many rings and jewels.

"These will sell at any pawn shop for a pretty Ryo. We're drinking tonight Shizune!"

"What the hell happened here?" demanded Jiraiya as he walked by with Naruto on his back as usual. He scanned the bodies and looked at Tsunade, who was looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights as she stole a dead man's belongings. "Really Hime?"

"It's not my fault!" she said. "He had a heart attack. Besides, he was crooked scum. I'd bet you good money that if you sent the cops to his office, you'd find plenty of evidence of criminal activity."

Jiraiya looked at Shizune for confirmation.

"It's true Jiraiya-sama. Takuma was a loan shark. That's how he made all of his money before he opened up the casinos here."

Jiraiya nodded and decided that he would investigate further. He dragged Tsunade and Shizune to the local police and filed a report. Jiraiya lost his disguise, as it was pointless now. The three of them waited for the police to report back to them in the station.

"So, Hime," he said. "Since you worked the anger out of your system a bit, my request still stands."

"I can't raise a kid Jiraiya," she said, looking down at the floor. "I just can't handle that kind of responsibility."

"I understand," Jiraiya said. "I just figured I'd ask you before we made any other decisions. Kushina did look up to you, you know."

Tsunade smiled slightly and looked at her former team mate.

"I will however," she said. "Return home for a while to help out the old man. I do owe him that much."

Jiraiya smiled happily at his friend's decision. He knew she wouldn't stay for long, but he took what he could get. They sat for some time, Jiraiya and Tsunade made some small talk about recent events, aside from the fox, while Shizune played with Naruto.

"So, will the old man let the kid live with the toads?" asked Tsunade.

"Hopefully," replied the Sage. "But I don't know. He wants Naruto to live as a normal kid, but I don't see that happening. He'd be safer with people that love him, not people that will shun him."

"By people you mean those slimy, bug eating amphibians?" she asked with no humor in her voice. "Where will you be in all of this?"

"I'll be with him as much as I can," said Jiraiya, "I know my spy network is important, but Naruto is too. I'll do my best."

"Sometimes your best just isn't enough," said Tsunade, her brow creasing, making the diamond on her forehead more prominent.

"When you love someone," said Jiraiya, looking at Naruto, who was reaching for Gama-chan, who in turn was being held hostage by a giggling Shizune. "Sometimes you need to push past your best. I'm going to do that. Besides, when he gets old enough to receive ninja training, I can just take him with me."

"So you plan on taking him as your apprentice right off the bat? What if he doesn't want to be a toad sage?"

"That's up to him. I'll teach him what they learn at the academy, maybe some more, and then when he gets old enough, I'll see if he wants to join the academy for real. If he wants to succeed me as a sage, that's up to him."

"What if something happens to you?" Tsunade asked, looking away from Jiraiya. "What if you leave him at the mountain and can't come back?"

"Then he's better off just living with the toads until they see fit to carry out my wishes. I'll write a will."

"There's no changing your mind on this, is there?" she asked with a smile, looking at him.

"I'm a stubborn old fool," he said with a grin. "But the ladies love that about me."

"Yeah, right," she scoffed.

"You're cold, you know that Hime?"

* * *

**Tsunade has agreed to return to Konoha, for the time being, but refuses to help raise Naruto. Perhaps her mind will change. What waits in store for Jiraiya and baby Naruto? Only time will tell.**

_So, what did the readers think of this story? Let me know if this fanfiction should continue, or if I should leave it to gather dust. Also any constructive criticism or ideas are very welcome. Those can be listed in reviews or in private messages. _

_~ BigHarlock ~_


	3. Chapter 2: Ma and Pa

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 2**

**Ma and Pa**

When the police got back to Jiraiya, Tsunade's accusations were confirmed. Takuma Nori's desk and files were full of evidence in the form of ledgers, personal files, and bank notes. The obese man was loaning money to anyone and everyone. Those that couldn't pay him back lost their homes, businesses and livelihoods that Takuma took for himself. Many of the women in his brothels were victims of their fathers' and husbands' various debts.

Worst of all, a later search of Takuma's casinos revealed that the man was in the opium trade. Some of his files linked him to the trading tycoon Gato, but since Gato was not based in the Land of Fire, he was out of their jurisdiction. Not even Konoha could touch him for the time being.

Gato had a reputation as a brutal and cunning businessman. He was known for hiring Missing-nins as security, but mostly stuck with whatever thugs he could gather up in port towns. His influence was also seen in Konoha, as many of their goods were brought in by Gato's trading caravans. It was doubtful that his dealings in Konoha were illegal, because then the Hokage would send hordes of ANBU to wipe is greasy little head off of the map, jurisdiction be damned. He was currently stationed in the Land of Tea.

So now, with Takuma dead, the local town leaders seized his property and disposed of his opium. Plans were made to close down his brothels and replace them with hotels. Jiraiya hoped that they would include bath houses, but kept his hopes silent in case Tsunade heard him.

Jiraiya, Naruto, Tsunade and Shizune soon left Tanzaku-Gai, and headed home, to Konahagakure.

* * *

When the small group returned to Konoha a week later, they were met with a fairly grand reception. People ran up to Tsunade, crying and thanking her for returning. Many of them wanted her to come treat their sick or injured, as the Hospital did not have room for everyone. Her instincts as a medic immediately kicked in, and she dragged Shizune off, leaving Jiraiya alone with Naruto.

Jiraiya sighed and looked at the baby.

"Women," he muttered, walking on towards the Hokage tower to give his report. "They see one person with a missing limb, and suddenly its doctor time. What about my needs? I could use a doctor."

He giggled to himself as he stepped through the crowds who were flocking to see their Slug Princess' return. Apparently the news that the world's greatest medic was back in Konoha was spreading like wildfire.

When he made it to Sarutobi's office, the Hokage was taking a break, looking out his window at the chaos below and smoking his pipe. At the sight of his student and Naruto, he put it out.

"So, I hear Tsunade has returned," said the wise old shinobi. "I don't know what you did to get her back, but I'm glad it worked. Will she be assisting with Naruto-kun's situation?"

Sarutobi got out of his seat, not waiting for an answer before taking Naruto out of the harness and taking the baby back to his chair, holding little Naruto and smiling as the infant tugged at his goatee.

"She refused to take Naruto," said Jiraiya with a hint of sadness in his deep voice. "But I still refuse to let you put him in an orphanage Sensei."

"I can't afford to let you get so attached that you would neglect your duties to Konoha," said Sarutobi a bit coldly.

"I won't neglect anything," Jiraiya shot back. "Especially Naruto."

Sarutobi stared at him for a long time, ignoring that Naruto was beginning to cry fussily in his arms. The old Hokage let out a long and drawn out sigh before handing Naruto back to his former pupil. The Hokage turned his chair away from them and stared out of the window.

"I have several conditions for this arrangement Jiraiya," he said, the cold edge of his voice still there. "First, I want him brought to Konoha every other month so I may check his progress. Second, I want his medical needs taken care of by Tsunade, and only Tsunade. Third, the very second he comes of age, I want him in the Ninja Academy."

Jiraiya smiled at his Sensei's demands.

"I see no problem there," he said happily, holding Naruto in front of him and grinning.

"And if I see a single wart on that baby, I'll have your head Jiraiya."

Both men were quiet for several seconds before they began laughing together. Sarutobi turned around to look at his student and his godson.

"Good luck Jiraiya," he said.

"Thanks Sensei."

"Oh and Jiraiya," said Sarutobi. "How exactly do you plan on monitoring your sources now that you have an infant in your care?"

"I was going to use messenger toads," said Jiraiya. "They are reliable, and I use them whenever I return to Konoha. I'll only need to leave Naruto with Ma and Pa when it's really vital to village security. It also seems that word about the Kyuubi's attacks are spreading very slowly. It will be some time before Iwa or Kumo gets word that the village was even attacked. You should have plenty of time to regain strength before they find out."

Sarutobi nodded sagely.

"Well I have plenty of work ahead of me then. Now get out of my office, the both of you before I change my mind."

"There's just one more thing Sensei," Jiraiya said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"I was thinking," the Sage said slowly. "I think it would be better for Naruto if I… raised him as my son."

"What are you getting at Jiraiya?"

"I think it would be healthier for him emotionally if he thought I was his father, at least until he was old enough to understand why Minato did what he did."

"What if word gets out that you have a child? What then Jiraiya?"

"Then we'll tell everyone I was raising him in secret to keep him safe."

"And a mother?"

"One thing at a time Sensei. I'll think of something if he asks me."

"When," said Sarutobi. He shook his head. "I know you love the boy Jiraiya, but be careful. I'll go along with your plan, but if it hurts the boy down the road, that's on your head, not mine."

Jiraiya nodded, his expression serious.

"Well I'll go say goodbye to Tsunade and head to Myoboku. I just need to stock up on the essentials and I'll be out of your hair."

"How will you be getting there?"

"Just a reverse summoning should do the trick," said Jiraiya. "See you in two months."

"Goodbye Jiraiya," said Sarutobi, lighting his pipe again. "And godspeed."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes at his Sensei's over dramatization of child rearing and left.

* * *

"What, so I'm supposed to play pediatrician now?" demanded Tsunade as she tried to ignore Shizune performing surgery on a civilian patient. Her hemophobia appeared to be as strong as it ever was, considering the fact that she was testy and rather pale. She refused to treat serious wounds or major surgeries because of it. She would still cure broken bones or internal damage such as torn muscles or ruptured organs however, something Shizune was not as adept at.

"Don't worry Hime," said Jiraiya, leaning on the door frame of the patient's bedroom. Naruto was on his back, but Jiraiya was making sure to keep the infant from seeing the bloody surgery taking place. "It's only to monitor his chakra systems and his seal. I can't sense someone's chakra like a Hyuuga can, but your medical jutsu will help me keep an eye on it."

"So you want me to make sure the Kyuubi isn't harming him in any way? How shoddy is that damned seal?

"It's damn near perfect. The thing is, it's made to filter the Kyuubi's chakra into Naruto's system at all times, making him used to it. Basically, he'll have insane chakra in later life, compared to most Jinchurriki including Kushina, it would be like a bucket of water in the Daimyo's swimming pool. In theory that is. I just don't know how well his system will handle it. It could be like pumping water into a balloon until it bursts, or it could be like adding on to a reservoir. Just building a dam down the line and releasing the water into it. When the lake gets full again, another dam is built and the water is released _again_."

"So you're saying we've got the greatest ninjutsu powerhouse on our hands since the creation of ninjutsu?"

"Exactly. I think what Minato had in mind was for Naruto to control the Kyuubi, rather than the other way around."

Tsunade took a moment to digest the information before nodding.

"Alright, I'll do it. I'll want to check on his systems every six months or so."

"The old man wants us back every two months. It might be good to do it then."

"Fine, but I doubt his chakra reserves will increase that rapidly."

"I sure hope they don't," said Jiraiya, rubbing the back of his neck. "How long are you staying in Konoha?"

"I think I'll be leaving when everything is back up to speed. I'll come back when it's time for Naruto's checkups."

Jiraiya nodded, but something didn't seem right. Tsunade was being way too easy with this. Why was she being so agreeable?

"Tsunade," he said slowly. "Why are you agreeing with this so easily? Normally you would be fighting tooth and nail to ever come back here. What changed?"

Tsunade was silent for a bit, looking down at the floor as she searched for the right words.

"I think," she said. "Konoha just lost the greatest leader it's ever had. And I lost a very dear friend of mine in Kushina. This kid is the last Uzumaki, even if it is on his mom's side, and even if he doesn't look anything like an Uzumaki. I'm a Senju, and it's really my job to keep our past ties isn't it? I think the best thing I could do to honor her memory is to help out her kid, even if it's just a little."

Jiraiya stared at her. He knew her answer was bullshit. He could feel it hanging in the air. He caught her staring at Naruto intently. He looked at the baby, and then he saw it. Little Naruto bore a very close resemblance to Tsunade's brother, Nawaki Senju.

Nawaki was a very eager child who wanted nothing more to be a ninja. When the Second Great Shinobi War broke out, Nawaki was just turning twelve years old. He shared his dream of becoming Hokage with his sister on his twelfth birthday, who gave him their grandfather's necklace in the hopes that it would help him achieve his dream. The day after his birthday, Nawaki died in battle after running into an explosive trap. Orochimaru was with him, and returned the necklace to Tsunade, who was completely devastated.

Jiraiya remembered that day. He had tried to console Tsunade, but to no avail. He could never be there for her as he'd wanted to. Eventually the two of them parted ways, and rarely looked back.

Jiraiya nodded at Tsunade, and after a brief goodbye, he left.

He went to the park and walked in between some trees. He summoned Gama and requested a reverse summoning to Mt. Myoboku. The toad agreed and left in a puff of smoke. Jiraiya sat down in the grass and crossed his legs. A few moments later his vision was clouded with smoke, and when it cleared, his environment had changed completely.

He was now in a dense jungle, filled with fauna of many contrasting, yet seamlessly blending colors ranging from the lightest green, to the darkest crimson. Massive insects buzzed around in the air, ignoring the newcomers as they fed off of either the massive multicolored flowers of the forest, or each other. Jiraiya stood off of the scroll he'd been sitting on, allowing Gama to roll it up. The toad proceeded to wrap his massive prehensile tongue around it and swallow it.

Jiraiya brushed himself off and snapped to attention when he finally realized that Naruto was crying loudly. He pulled his "son" off of his back and tried to comfort the child. Naruto had obviously been startled by the amount of smoke and the sudden change in scenery.

"Gama-boy!" screeched a very familiar voice. "What in toad's name is that racket?"

Jiraiya began to panic as he started trying to quietly get Naruto to be quiet.

"Hush kid, hush," he whispered frantically. "If she finds us she's gonna make us eat her cooking!"

He quickly pulled out Gama-chan, which caused Naruto to shut up immediately, but it was too late.

"Jiraiya-boy?" cried the voice as it rounded some plants. Jiraiya's blood ran cold and he slowly turned around. He'd hoped to find Pa first, but for now, he was stuck with Ma… or should I say Shima?

Shima was a purple toad with a light green face and underbody. Her head was extraordinarily lumpy, making her look like she'd been wearing a hair net with curlers under it. She hopped up to Jiraiya, her black cape fanning out behind her.

"Hey Ma," said Jiraiya slowly. "How are you? We already ate by the way."

"Don't sass me Jiraiya-boy," she said sternly. "You may have eaten, but it obviously wasn't enough. You want to grow up big and strong like your Pa don't you?"

"Pa is two feet tall Ma," Jiraiya said with a deadpanned expression. "And I'm thirty-eight years old for God's sake."

"Yes, yes," she said, brushing off his excuses like sawdust. "Our little Jiraiya-boy is growing up. Come come, let's get you fed and—wait, what are you holding?"

Jiraiya looked down at Naruto who was gumming on thewallet absentmindedly.

"What, this?"

"Jiraiya!" Shima screeched, her purple and green head going nearly white with shock. "What did you do? Where is the poor girl?"

"What?" screamed Jiraiya.

"Oh! I knew your Pa should have taught you the birds and the bees years ago," she wept into her cape. "'No Ma,' he'd said. 'The boy's nearly thirty' he'd said! But I knew, I knew! It was that Tsunade wasn't it? I'll have to give that girl's father a piece of my mind!"

"MA!" cried out another voice from around the corner. "Quit screaming! Bunta-boy is still recovering from his fight with that damned Kyuubi and he's trying to rest!"

Out from the underbrush came a dark green toad with bushy white eyebrows and a tuft of white hair on top of his head. He wore a cape like Shima did.

"Oh, Jiraiya-boy," said the Elder Toad. Fukasaku, or Pa as he was commonly referred to, was a ninjutsu master over eight hundred years old. Mt. Myobaku was mostly his territory, aside from his master the Great Toad Sage. Shima was his wife and they were two of the most revered toads on the mountain. "Why did you make Ma cry? And whose baby is that?"

"Our Jiraiya-boy is a delinquent!" wept Shima, grabbing Fukasaku by his cape and shaking him.

"Ma!" cried Jiraiya, on the verge of tears himself from receiving such treatment. "This ain't my kid!"

Shima immediately stopped weeping and looked at Jiraiya suspiciously.

"You wouldn't lie to yer old Ma would you boy?" she asked.

"Of course not!" he shot back at her. "This is Minato's son, Naruto."

The toads were silent for a minute before Shima began weeping again and latched onto her husband.

"Our Minato-boy is a delinquent!"

"Stop that Ma!" Fukasaku shouted, pushing her off of him and straightening his cape. "We both know Minato-boy is married!"

"Minato is dead," said Jiraiya abruptly, deciding the only way to get through to the Sages was to pull no punches. "And so is his wife. They were killed sealing the fox within their son."

The toads immediately stopped bickering and looked up at Jiraiya with shock, until recollection dawned on both of them.

"Bunta-boy said as much," said Fukasaku. "But we didn't believe it. We didn't want to."

"I'm sorry Ma, Pa."

"No, Jiraiya," said Shima. "It's alright. We'll just miss that boy. So tell us why you've come back here, and why you brought the baby with you."

"I've decided to adopt Naruto," said Jiraiya. "And I want to keep him here, where he'll be the safest."

"Why here?" asked Fukusaku, wrapping his cape around himself.

"No one knows where it is, and I think if he doesn't live in Konoha, he'll have an easier time there when he becomes a shinobi. Right now most of the villagers hate him for what's inside of him."

"I see your point Jiraiya-boy," said Fukasaku. "Come, Bunta-boy and the others will want to meet him. How long will you be keeping him here?"

"I think until he turns seven years old? Maybe five if he can learn the basics of the academy at an early age. As soon as he comes of age he'll be put in the academy. Sarutobi-sensei's orders. I also need to bring him down there every two months for checkups with Tsunade and to meet the old man."

"Stay as long as you want Jiraiya-boy!"

When they rounded the corner, they were met with a road surrounded by massive toad statues and mushrooms of every size, shape and color. In the distance were several buildings, larger than anything in Konha, and massive plant like structures that bent at near the middle and released waterfalls from their tops into even larger lakes.

Jiraiya was led to a large building where Gamabunta resided with his family. He was the chief of the Toad clan, and answered only to Shima and Fukasaku. The large toad was wrapped in bandages and was sleeping peacefully on his side, his compatriots Gamaken the Clumsy One and Gamahiro, the kenjutsu master of the toads were playing shogi on a massive board and table behind him. When Jiraiya entered, he was snoring, his pipe hanging loosely from his mouth. Upon hearing Shima gripe at Jiraiya for being too skinny he opened one eye and looked down on his summoner.

"Jiraiya," he said in his low, gravely rumble. "Looks like you survived that damned fox. Heard about Minato. Damn shame."

"Yeah," said Jiraiya with a nod. "He was a good apprentice."

"Better summoner than you."

"Oh shut up!"

Jiraiya's indignant protest at Gamabunta's attitude of him caused Naruto to drop his wallet and begin to cry.

"What the hell is that?" demanded Gamabunta, leaning down to get a better look.

"This is Naruto, Minato's son. I'm adopting him and raising him here, away from Konoha where he'd be shunned."

"Why the hell is that?" asked the Toad chief, croaking indignantly as Gamaken and Gamahiro leaned over him to take a look at the crying infant.

"He's got the fox sealed inside of him. Minato saw no other way to get rid of it."

Gamabunta nodded and took a puff from his pipe.

"So he's a jinchuuriki now. We'll have to train him, just like we did with you and Minato."

Jiraiya grinned at his old friend.

"I hoped you'd say something like that."

Shima tugged on Jiraiya's pant leg.

"Let me hold him Jiraiya-boy!" she croaked at him. He leaned down and passed the baby to his Ma. "He's going to be a strong one Pa."

"I already know the tadpoles will take a liking to him," said Fukasaku, hopping over and taking a look for himself.

"Can I hold him next?" asked Gamahiro, resting his arms on Gamabunta, getting a croak of indignation from the chief.

"I would ask as well," said Gamaken, climbing onto Gamabunta's back. "But I am far too ungraceful."

"You'll be even more ungraceful once you get over the concussion I'll give you if you idiot's don't get the hell offa me!" shouted Gamabunta as he began to wrestle with the two giant toads.

* * *

Naruto's life on Mount Myoboku had a bit of a rocky start. Jiraiya insisted on buying food from Konoha and bringing it there via reverse summoning so Naruto did not have to live off of mashed up bugs as Shima wanted. While her culinary skills were legendary amongst toads, they left a lot to be desired when it came to human visitors. Such as edibility.

Shima and Fukasaku loved Naruto from the moment they'd held him, though the crying often drove Fukasaku to spend time in Gamaken's tavern, away from his screaming wife, the complaining Jiraiya and the crying Naruto. Shima tried to put herself in charge of Naruto, but Jiraiya wouldn't allow it because she would try to feed him her cooking. So, Jiraiya took it upon himself to feed, change and bathe Naruto.

When word came from Jiraiya's contacts that required his personal attendance, he would always send a Shadow Clone to do it for him. The fact that the clone needed to go so far for so long often meant he needed to use the majority of his chakra reserves for the single clone. It left him exhausted, but he didn't want to leave Naruto's side.

So, every two months Jiraiya would take Naruto home to Konoha to meet with Tsunade and Sarutobi. The first few visits went off well, but Tsunade's constant comings and goings were causing a strain on her dedication to avoid her home village. As a solution, she got a loan from Sarutobi and bought a small patch of land in the forests surrounding Konoha and with the help of the village's Genins, built a house that doubled as a medical clinic. It was classified as a D-ranked mission.

Six months after Jiraiya and Naruto made their home in Myoboku, Orochimaru insisted on attending Naruto's check-ups. He said it was an interest in fuuinjutsu, the art of sealing. He would take notes on Tsunade's procedures, insisting all the while that it was to help Konoha's Research and Development department. Every time he got too close however, Naruto would get fussy, and Jiraiya would become irritable, so he kept his distance.

On one particular day, he decided to take his chances. Jiraiya needed to meet with a contact within the village, so he left Tsunade's home, believing that the Slug Princess would keep a watchful eye on Orochimaru. While she was checking on his seal, she went to pick up her notes, but found they weren't there. She gave Orochimaru a silent glance and left to go find her papers. As soon as she'd left Orochimaru reached for Naruto. The baby's eyes went wide and he began to shake.

Orochimaru grinned.

"So fragile," he whispered. "But so much latent power. If I can just get a mark on the boy, perhaps he would be a viable candidate. I want that power."

He began to lean down, his canines extending slightly, prepared to sink into the infant's belly just above his seal. Then his jaw snapped shut as a fist came in and slammed his chin with an uppercut.

"What the fuck are you doing?" roared Tsunade, grabbing her former teammate by the throat, slamming him against the wall. Cracks appeared in the wood work of the wall he was against as he struggled to breath. Tsunade dropped him to the floor and he gazed up at her with a cruel sneer.

"Why do you protect him Tsunade?" he gasped out the words. "He means nothing to you."

Tsunade was silent before she hissed at the Snake Sannin.

"Get out."

Orochimaru stood up slowly, leaning on the wall. He staggered out of the building and disappeared into the trees.

Tsunade ran to the baby and began checking on him. He was no longer shaking, but he looked like he was prepared to cry at any time. Tsunade silently picked him up and held him to her chest, humming quietly until he had calmed down and fallen asleep. She looked down at the sleeping form against her and smiled softly, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.

"I'll protect you," she said. "Because I can."

From that point on, Tsunade began disregarding her need to gamble and drink in order to make sure Naruto was safe any time he visited the village. She was often there to greet Jiraiya and his son when they would return to the village, and would insist on Jiraiya conducting his business while she and Shizune took Naruto to the park or to their home.

"Really Hime?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously during one visit. "And here I thought you couldn't love anyone."

That got him two brand new black eyes.

* * *

Naruto's time with the toads was beginning to show in his behavior. When he was six months old, he learned to crawl, but would often try to hop like the toads did. Lack of limb strength made it futile and he just ended up scooting on his belly. Jiraiya would bet with Fukusaku on how far he could go until he tired himself out.

Gamabunta became a bit attached to the boy. Once, Jiraiya was in a panic because he couldn't find Naruto anywhere. He scoured the toad village to no avail. He even asked the Great Toad Sage to divine his son's presence in his crystal ball, but his request fell on literally deaf ears. He later found the baby napping on Gamabunta's back, the Toad Chief sleeping as well with a content smile on his face. When Jiraiya tried to wake him up, it did not go over well.

"Shut the hell up Jiraiya," whispered Gamabunta. "I just got the gaki to sleep, let's keep it that way!"

Jiraiya wasn't too surprised. Gamabunta was a bit of a family man, so to speak.

Gamaken refused to touch the child, insisting on his "ungracefulness". Gamahiro wanted to forge a sword for the kid, but was too large to work a human sized forge. The younger toads loved Naruto as well. When he turned two years old he found his first real friend in Gamabunta's pollywog son Gamakichi. The two became almost inseperable.

"See that Bunta-boy?" asked Fukasaku as he watched Naruto and Gamakichi play in a large pond near Gamabunta's house. "I think Naruto-boy's found himself a familiar!"

Gamabunta smiled and puffed from his pipe.

"Of course. Jiraiya's son, and my son. They will be a powerful team."

"So you do care Bunta?" chuckled Jiraiya as he Body Flickered onto the Chief's head.

"Get offa me you loud mouthed moron!"

* * *

**Two Years after the Kyuubi Attack**

**Konohagakure**

"Hey Dad?" asked the blonde whisker marked toddler as he walked through the hidden village, hand in hand with his tall, white haired, bizarrely dressed father. The boy himself was in a short shirt kimono with matching pants like his father, though his was in orange. On his feet he wore brown sandals.

"What's up kid?" replied Jiraiya, looking down at his son as they wandered through Konoha's shopping district on their way to the Hokage's mansion.

"What's up with those things on ladies' chests? We saw lots of 'em at the bath house t'day, and I liked lookin' at 'em, but what're they for?"

"That Naruto," replied Jiraiya with a sagely smile, taking his chin in between his forefinger and thumb and posing as though pondering a philosophical quandary. They stopped at an ice cream vendor on the side of the street. "Is the kind of question that earns you a popsicle."

The boy whooped happily as his father bought the kind with two sticks that you snap in half and share. He did just that and handed Naruto half the popsicle, taking his son's hand as they continued on their way.

Over time, with Naruto not being in the village for more than a few days at a time, people's hostility for him began to trickle down. After all, if he was considered the son of a legendary ninja like Jiraiya, the kid couldn't be that evil. They would still steel glances at the boy, but wouldn't make a sound, seeing as he was never separated from Jiraiya.

"Why'd Hokage-jiji not wanna see us today?" asked Naruto, forgetting his previous question entirely.

"He said something about business with Orochimaru," replied the Toad Sage, biting off the end of his frozen treat.

"Who?"

"He was on my ninja team a long time ago."

"Oh. Is he as strong as you?"

"Nah," grinned Jiraiya proudly. "Our toads are way cooler than his snakes!"

"You don't need ta lie dad," said Naruto with a surprisingly condescending tone.

"Oh shut up. I'll take that ice cream away you know?"

After a bit of bickering and some running around in the street, Jiraiya stopped to ponder why his sensei had been so hushed about his meeting with Orochimaru. Was it really that important?

His eyes went wide in shock, while Naruto and the surrounding citizens cried out in horror as a huge explosion rocked the village, a spot not far from the shopping district covered in billowing smoke and debris.

* * *

**Several Seconds Ago**

"Orochimaru," Gasped the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi as he beheld a horrific sight. A laboratory, a terrifying place, the walls lined with the mutilated remains of his precious citizens and shinobi. Slowly, his student turned around and stared down Sarutobi with a wicked grin, a scalpel held in his hand.

"What have you done?"

And then, Orochimaru was there, a maddening grin threatening to tear his head apart as his face came mere inches away from Sarutobi.

* * *

**What **_**has **_**Orochimaru done? How will it affect the Village? Will Jiraiya and Naruto get involved? Only time will tell!**

_I was surprised with the reception this story got when I posted it. Within the first day, my email inbox was overflowing with favorites, story alert notifications, and reviews. I appreciate the input of those that reviewed and I will try to keep a steady update schedule with this fic._

_I know that the idea of Naruto being raised by Jiraiya has been done many times, but I just love the idea so much that I want to make it my own. Hopefully it will meet your expectations and you will continue reading._


	4. Chapter 3: Traitor

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 3**

**Traitor**

Orochimaru went flying from the flaming wreckage of the basement laboratory he'd been keeping beneath the shopping district of Konoha. His legs morphed into the tail of a snake before he landed, allowing him to dart into the crowds. ANBU was already on him though, running across buildings to keep up with him.

From beneath the smoldering remains, a haggard, yet determined voice rang out.

_"Kuchiyose no jutsu!"_

There was a great rush of wind as the Third Hokage ,in full battle gear, his hat and robes tossed aside, leapt from the smoke followed closely by the Monkey King Enma, his personal summon. The two landed in the streets.

"So Orochimaru has finally turned traitor?" said Enma, his white hair billowing in the breeze.

"We must find him!" shot Sarutobi as the two of them leapt onto the buildings above, following the ANBU squads tightly. They spotted Orochimaru making a beeline for the Konoha public park. As soon as he made it out of the crowds, Sarutobi leapt into action.

"Now Enma!" he shouted.

_"Henge: Kongōnyoi!" _Enma shouted, running through hand signs. With a burst of smoke he became a massive adamantine staff. Sarutobi grabbed Enma and leapt in front of Orochimaru, slamming the staff into the ground in front of his former student. Orochimaru stopped in his tracks.

"So my explosive traps were no match for the Professor," growled Orochimaru with a sneer.

"What have you done Orochimaru?" Hiruzen pleaded. "Why did you kill all of those innocents?"

"To further my ambition Sensei," said Orochimaru, not bothering to act amused or sarcastic for once. "I want to learn every single Jutsu in the world."

"You're insane!" shouted Sarutobi.

"I will be immortal!" Orochimaru shouted back, lunching at his sensei, his neck extending like rubber as a long thin blade erupted from his gullet. The sword Kusanagi was Orochimaru's infamous double-edged jian. The blade extended from its sheath, aiming straight for the Hokage's heart.

Sarutobi lifted Enma to block the attack, but was shocked and horrified when the sword pierced Enma's diamond hard form, forcing the Monkey King out of his transformation. When the smoke cleared, the sword's blade was sticking through Enma's abdomen. Enma grabbed the blade and kept it from growing any longer.

"Enma!" cried Sarutobi.

"I'm fine Saru!" replied thesummon with a pained cough.

Orochimaru finished regurgitating the sword, taking the hilt in his hand and yanking it out of Enma. The blade shrank back down to normal, Orochimaru taking a kenjutsu stance fifteen feet from Sarutobi and Enma.

"I'm sorry Hiruzen," said Enma.

"It's okay old friend," said the Hokage. "You can go."

Enma nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Suddenly, ANBU had Orochimaru surrounded. Orochimaru merely grinned and bit his thumb, slamming his palm into the grass.

A giant blue snake appeared and coiled around Orochimaru. He latched onto it and the snake burrowed into the ground.

"Damn!" shouted Sarutobi, looking around. Suddenly the ground underneath multiple ANBU exploded upward, the Snake snapping up some of them in its giant maw, swallowing them whole. Sarutobi looked on in horror as it arched around, grabbing more ANBU as it burrowed down again. Time slowed for the Professor when he saw Orochimaru gripping the snake's scales and grinning at him.

The angle that the snake was burrowing in told Sarutobi that it was heading straight for the shopping district. With his lab destroyed, Orochimaru was planning on taking as many Konoha citizens with him as he could before escaping. Sarutobi and his three remaining ANBU ran for the area, people already in a panic due to the explosion.

"Let's get everyone out of here!" shouted Sarutobi.

"There's too many Hokage-sama!" replied an ANBU. "We'll never get them all out in time!"

Just as they arrived the snake was coming out of the ground. Sarutobi could only watch as his people tried to avoid the rising ground. Suddenly—

"_Kuchiyose: Yatai Kuzushi no Jutsu!"_

There was a loud popping noise as Gamaken fell from the sky right onto the snake's emerging snout. It hissed in furious pain as the giant toad climbed off of it. When it tried to crawl back underground, Gamaken trapped its head underneath his spiked sasumata, holding it down as Jiraiya came down from his head to greet Sarutobi.

"He's finally gone off the deep end?" asked Jiraiya, turning to watch as Orochimaru scrambled from the damaged road, fuming.

"He's murdered hundreds of my people," said Sarutobi with a shaky voice. "I cannot let him leave here alive! Where's Naruto?"

"He's safe," said Jiraiya. He'd made Naruto hide with some other children in a shop. He hoped that the kid wouldn't move, but Naruto was just like him, impulsive.

"Jiraiya," growled Orochimaru, holding Kusanagi at the ready. "Why do you dog my every step?"

"Because you've gone insane!" said the Toad sage, taking a step towards his teammate turned traitor. "Stop this now and you'll have a chance to repent!"

"I don't want your retribution!" said Orochimaru, sticking his sword in the dirt before running through hand signs and slamming his hand into the ground. Snakes erupted from his sleeves and sped towards Jiraiya and Sarutobi. "I only need my own power!"

"_Katon: Endan!" _Jiraiya spat a massive torrent of flames at the snakes, burning them all on contact.

"_Doton: Doryu Taiga!" _Sarutobi ran through hand seals, his jutsu turning the ground beneath Orochimaru's feet into soft mud, pulling him towards his opponents like a river. The Hokage followed it up with another Earth Jutsu. _"Doton: Doryudan!"_

The earth next to Sarutobi turned to mud, forming into a giant dragon's head that opened up and released a volley of mud balls at Orochimaru, pelting the Snake Sage until he was nearly covered. Orochimaru reacted after a few seconds, performing another summoning jutsu. There was a great burst of smoke and the King of Snakes, the purple horned Manda appeared.

"Orochimaru!" it roared. "You dare call on me without notice? For this, I demand one hundred and fifty human sacrifices!"

"You shall receive!" said Orochimaru, hopping onto Manda's head. There was another burst of smoke and then Jiraiya was standing atop Gamabunta, the Toad Chief smoking his pipe and regarding Manda with disdain.

"Finally," he said. "That snake skin wallet is mine!"

"Not today cur!" screamed Manda as the two of them clashed, Manda clamping his jaw down on Gamabunta's sword. Jiraya and Orochimaru leapt off of the heads of their summons and engaged in a brutal exchange of taijutsu.

* * *

Naruto had hidden underneath the counter of the store his father had pushed him into, along with two boys about his age and a little girl who appeared to be much older than they were. One boy had pineapple shaped hairdo and the other was rather pudgy, munching on chips nervously.

"Hey," said the girl to Naruto, attempting to distract the frightened boys from the battle outside. "I've seen you in my Dad's ramen shop with Jiraiya-sama!"

"Jiraiya-sama?" Naruto asked, before it clicked. "Oh, my Dad. Yeah, he's out there fighting right now."

"Wow, your Dad is Jiraiya of the Sannin?"

Naruto nodded, glad for the distraction.

"I'm scared," said the pudgy boy.

"That's a funny name," said the pineapple head, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to tune out the sounds of screaming and destruction.

"Shut up Shikamaru! That's not funny!"

"I'm Naruto!" said the blonde.

"I'm Ayame," said the girl.

"My _name_," the pudgy boy emphasized. "Is Chouji."

"Shikamaru."

"What are we gonna do?" asked Chouji, looking at the other kids. "We can't run. I heard Naruto's Dad say to stay here."

"I think we should run and find out Moms," said Shikamaru, burying his face in his knees.

"I want my Dad," said Naruto, looking like he was on the verge of tears. Ayame waved her hands in front of them.

"No crying!" said the older girl. "Let's play a game."

"I don't want to!" wept Chouji. These boys were not optimistic today.

"Let's sing a song then!" she said and began to sing a song."_ I used to chase rabbits on that mountain. I used to fish for minnow in that river. I still dream of those days even now. Oh, how I miss my home town."_

The three boys knew the song. Their mothers would sing it to them sometimes, though Naruto had Ma for that. They slowly followed her lead and sang together.

Soon the noise quieted, and everything went silent. They stopped singing and looked around. They peaked over the counter to the outside window and saw nothing. Naruto, not thinking, ran to the door, assuming the fight was over. He ignored Ayame screaming his name as he ran out the door. He suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye and screamed when it came down upon him.

* * *

Orochimaru was wounded severely, as was Jiraiya. Sarutobi could only look on as the two of them clashed from atop their mammoth summons. If he attempted to approach their battle, he would only get in Jiraiya's way. Gamaken was still wrestling with the smaller snake, pinning it down only for it to break free and try to bite him.

Jiraya leapt back from Orochimaru, nursing a gash on his stomach left by Kusanagi. Orochimaru retreated as well, his body worn down and covered in burns and lacerations, as well as caked on blood and mud.

"Now Bunta!" shouted Jiraiya. The toad shot a torrent of oil into Manda's face and Jiraiya followed up with a massive wave of fire. _"__Katon: Gamayu Endan!"_

When the flames cleared, it seemed as though they had won, but were unsurprised to see a charred snake skin rather than a charred snake, and a hole in the ground at Gamabunta's feet. Suddenly, the ground rumbled and Gamabunta leapt out of the way as Manda burst from the ground beneath him, fangs ready to bite down on the Toads. That's when Gamaken intervened and tackled Manda to the ground.

"I've defeated my opponent," said the great red toad, smacking Manda repeatedly with his sasumata. "Despite my clumsiness."

Gamabunta took the opportunity and plunged his sword into Manda's body, getting a loud screeching hiss from the giant snake. Manda spat insults at his enemies before vanishing in a large cloud of smoke.

Gamabunta and Gamaken panted heavily, looking around for Orochimaru.

"There he is!" shouted Sarutobi as the Snake Sage sped towards the market district.

* * *

Orochimaru knew he had lost this battle, but there was nothing to be done about it now. He could only retreat and act another day. Besides, he had copies of his plans in the Rice country. He would fight another day. Another opportunity always revealed itself.

Then that opportunity came. He saw Jiraiya's adopted son run out into the street, unaware that Orochimaru was speeding in his direction. Orochimaru smiled savagely, leaping towards the boy, fangs outstretched. The boy spotted him too late and could only scream.

"Naruto!" screamed Jiraiya, trying his best to catch up. He could only look on in pure terror as Orochimaru descended on his beloved child. Then the unthinkable happened.

"Don't touch my Naruto!" screamed Tsunade, kicking Orochimaru in the side of the head. The Snake Sage was caught entirely off guard and was thrown into another building. Orochimaru staggered out, screaming in fury. Before he could lunge at Tsunade he was met with yet another kick to the head.

"_Dynamic Entry!"_ roared the Jounin Maito Gai, appearing on scene. Orochimaru was sent staggering away, his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"_RASENGAN!"_ Jiraiya absolutely screamed, driving a spinning blue ball of chakra into the gut of his former friend. Orochimaru screamed and wailed in terrific pain as the ball was driven further and further into his abdomen. Jiraiya was aiming to kill.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's eyes snapped into focus and he cackled madly, grabbing the sides of Jiraiya's head. He leaned his head back and opened his mouth. His jaw unhinged and another body shot out from Orochimaru. He had shed his skin, so to speak. Orochimaru took their shock as an opportunity and darted up the building, scaling it as fast as he could in his weakened state.

"_Raikiri!" _shouted a new voice as the silver haired ANBU Kakashi buried his lightning covered hand in Orochimaru's tail. Orochimaru screamed in pain as volts of electricity ran through his system. He rotated his torso one hundred and eighty degrees to face the young ANBU and began mercilessly punching him in the face, resisting the paralyzing shock of the attack.

Kakashi grabbed Orochimaru by the back of the head and pulled him off of the building, the two of them tumbling to the ground below. Orochimaru pushed Kakashi off of him and stood up, his legs returning to normal. He was about to bite his thumb for a summoning jutsu, but froze in place.

"_Kagemane no Jutsu,"_ said Shikaku Nara from across the street. "Complete."

His two team mates, Chouza Akimichi and Inoichi Yamanaka appeared next to him. There was nothing Orochimaru could do. He was completely outnumbered and outgunned, so he stood silently, trapped in the Nara's shadow possession.

"Dad!" cried Choiji as he ran out of the shop towards his father, who scooped him up and glared at Orochimaru.

"Hey old man!" said Shikamaru, running to his own father.

"Mind telling us what the hell happened here Hokage-sama?" asked Inoichi.

Tsunade walked up to Orochimaru and punched him squarely in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious.

Sarutobi looked at Kakashi and Gai.

"Take him for interrogation," said the Hokage. "Let Ibiki have at him."

Jiraiya dropped the corpse he had to the ground and turned to Naruto. The boy was crouching, his eyes closed tightly. Jiraiya approached the boy and dropped to his knees, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"I can't believe this," said Tsunade, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "He was our friend!"

"He's not the same man he was Tsunade," said Sarutobi as he joined his remaining students. "Is Naruto alright?"

Jiraiya drew back from his son, who was looking at him and sniffling.

"I'm okay," said the child. Jiraiya smiled at him. This kid was strong.

"Alright," said Tsunade, refusing to look at the bloody form of Jiraiya or the abandoned corpse. "Let's get you guys to Shizune."

"Jiraiya," said Gamabunta. "Let me take Naruto home. He needs some rest. Pa will take care of him."

Jiraiya nodded and looked at Naruto, still kneeling in front of him.

"Go with Bunta, okay?" he asked.

"Alright Dad," said Naruto, climbing into Gamabunta's hand. The summons swiftly poofed out of Konoha, taking Naruto with them.

"Care to explain Jiraiya?" asked Shikaku.

"I can explain it better," said the Hokage. "All of you, to my office in one hour."

"Us too Hokage-sama?" asked Gai as he and Kakashi grabbed Orochimaru, prepared to haul him in for questioning.

"I suppose so Gai," said the Hokage. "Just be quick. I don't want him to wake up any time soon."

"How very unyouthful," said Gai sternly as they Body flickered away with the unconscious Sannin.

* * *

An hour later, everyone involved in the fight with Orochimaru aside from Naruto or the other children were packed into Sarutobi's office with a lot of questions. The Hokage ignored their stares as he looked over their individual reports of what had transpired, puffing on his pipe.

"Orochimaru," said Sarutobi. "Has been officially branded as a traitor to the Leaf. He has been experimenting on our villagers and our shinobi, right under our noses. Hundreds of people have been taken, and not a single peep was heard about it. My ANBU began noticing that some familiar faces of the crowds were not showing up anymore, and several Shinobi were not showing up for their duties. Orochimaru has gotten sloppy with his madness, and we were able to track him to his laboratory."

"So what?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka. "Did we get anything significant? What was he trying to do?"

"Most of his papers and notes were lost when he set off his explosives. We hope that Ibiki and you, Inoichi will be able to get into his head and find out. What we did find were notes on sealing techniques of the Uzumaki Clan and some that I've never seen before. It appears he was marking people, and it was altering their chakra somehow, but I just don't know."

"So what do we plan on doing?" asked Jiraiya. Tsunade stood behind him, her eyes trained downward.

"We'll find out from him personally. Inoichi. Get down there and pick his brain apart. The rest of you are dismissed. Take a few days to rest, you all deserve it."

The ninjas present nodded and took their leave, aside from Jiraiya, Tsunade and strangely, Kakashi.

"Jiriaya-sama," said the young Anbu, his eye the only thing exposed on his face. "Was that child who called you dad-?"

"Yes," said the Sage. "That was your sensei's son. I've adopted him."

"He seems to be doing well," said Kakashi, turning to leave. "Maybe I'll be able to teach him a few things when he becomes a shinobi."

Jiraiya grinned at the idea and turned to face his sensei, his expression dropping when his eyes met the old man's.

"Sarutobi-sensei," said Jiraiya. "What do we do now? He was our friend. Our teammate."

"You don't have to attend the execution," the Hokage said coldly, turning his chair to the window. "Now leave me."

Jiraiya turned away, taking Tsunade by the shoulder and leading her out. They did not want to see their Sensei cry.

Sarutobi took off his hat and set it on the desk behind him, and began to weep.

"Oh god Orochimaru," he clenched his teeth and pounded on the arm of his chair. "Where did I go wrong?"

* * *

When Inoichi got to his department his face went white. The entirety of the place was completely torn apart. Bodies were everywhere. Some of the bodies were utterly burnt up and some were completely torn to shreds. It was a war zone, the evident use of jutsus covering the place.

When he finally ran to Orochimaru's holding cell, it was empty, save for his companion Ibiki Morino, who was slumped against the wall, covered in his own blood. His skin was pale, a sure sign that he was on the verge of bleeding out.

"What the fuck happened?" hissed Inoichi as he began tending to Ibiki's wounds.

"It looked like ANBU," Ibiki whispered back. "But they weren't ours. I have no idea who it was, but they busted him out."

"Did you find anything?" asked Inoichi. "Anything at all?"

"Orochimaru had more labs in Konoha," he gasped out. "Some of them… have children in them… find them!"

Ibiki then passed out.

* * *

When Orochimaru came to he'd been the guest of Ibiki. The torture he endured was excruciating to say the least. He decided that it would be in his best interest to divulge some minor information. Besides, the only thing they would get would be that Tenzo kid. Orochimaru didn't know whether his experiments on the child worked or not, but he would probably find out soon enough.

Besides, as far as Danzo knew, they were a success, and that was enough for the old war hawk to come retrieve him.

Orochimaru sat in a chair in the middle of ROOT Headquarters, the home of Danzo's secret legion of ANBU ninjas. Danzo paced back and forth in front of Orochimaru, his cane clacking noisily on the stone floor.

"So what do you want?" asked the Snake Sage.

"You know my price. I want the wood release, and I want the Sharingan."

"I can give you the wood release," said Orochimaru. "But how do you expect me to get you a Sharingan? Even I haven't been able to get an Uchiha to experiment on."

"I know for a fact," said Danzo. "That the Uchiha are planning a coup de etat on the village. It won't happen for many years to come, but when the time comes and that clan is wiped out, their eyes are ours for the taking."

"How long?"

"I do not know," said Danzo. "But I will remain in contact. I'll smuggle you to Rice Country as soon as you are well enough to travel."

"How did you know about my base there?" demanded Orochimaru.

"I know of all your labs," said Danzo. "Do not underestimate me snake. I have far more resources then Jiraiya."

Orochimaru's expression became one of suspicion. He would do well not to piss Danzo off.

"We have an agreement then," said Orochimaru coldly.

* * *

When Naruto returned to Mt. Myoboku, Gamabunta took him the Ma and Pa to fill them in on what happened. As soon as they heard about Orochimaru going for the boy, Shima nearly had a break down as she clung on to her precious Naruto-boy. Naruto had a brave face on however, and refused to cry as the images came back to him. Of course he wanted to, but he resisted. Shima dragged him to their house so he could be fed. Human food of course. Fukasaku kicked her out of the kitchen and made Naruto a sandwich from the food Jiraiya had provided.

The toad sages and Naruto all sat down for a meal together, Gamaken and Gamabunta left for the tavern. Naruto picked at his sandwich for a bit before putting it down.

"Hey Pa?" said Naruto abruptly. "Who were the guys who beat up the scary one?"

"Those were probably ninjas Naruto-boy," said the Elder Toad as he stirred his own pill bug soup.

"They were strong," said the boy with a slight smile.

"Ninja are very strong," said Fukasaku, returning his human grandson's smile. "Your father is a ninja. The Hokage is a ninja. Even Gamabunta, Ma and I are ninjas."

"Wow," said Naruto, his eyes full of excitement. "I wanna be a ninja when I get big! Then I can beat up scary guys all by myself!"

Fukusaku smiled at the boy.

"_Look at those eyes," _He thought to himself. _"Despite the traumatic events of today, he is determined to overcome. Instead of being afraid, he knew Jiraiya-boy was there for him. This is strength. This is what it takes to be a great shinobi."_

"Finish your lunch Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "And I'll teach you about some of the greatest ninjas who ever lived. When you get older, your father will want to teach you how to be a ninja yourself."

"Thank you Pa!" cheered Naruto as he dug into his sandwich.

* * *

Orochimaru's escape from Konoha was a complete and utter disaster. No one knew who helped him or why. They found several more labs around the city. The only living thing they found however, was the boy Tenzo. According to the notes left there, the boy was injected with the First Hokage's cells to see if he could develop the Wood Release. It was unsure on whether it worked or not, but he was taken to Tsunade's house for medical examinations.

The Hokage had word sent to Sunagakure and their other allies that Orochimaru was classified as an S-ranked Missing Nin with a kill on sight order.

Danzo, of course, blamed it all on Sarutobi's softness, but even the council did not buy that. Danzo was scorned for his accusations and was nowhere to be seen for several days. It was assumed that he was brooding as usual.

The Uchiha's Military Police were put under scrutiny for not reacting immediately to the disaster in the shopping district, but they made the excuse that they were having meetings about conduct and their overall role in the village. The Hokage did not buy it and put pressure on the clan leader Fugaku Uchiha to either try harder, or be disbanded as a liability. Fugaku did not take kindly to the threat and spent following council meetings almost silent, glaring at the others in the room.

The only true bright spot in the Uchiha's current reputation was that Fugaku's son Itachi had graduated from the academy at the top of his class at the age of seven. He was currently the youngest Genin in the village, as well as one of the most skilled and talented.

* * *

Jiraiya didn't make it home for two weeks. He'd been scouring the country for any sign of Orochimaru, but came back with his hands empty and his mood sour.

He was happily surprised to see Naruto studying the history of ninjutsu with Fukasaku. Apparently the toad had caught the boys interest with the reward of instant ramen every time the boy listened to his lectures and was able to absorb the information given to him.

Jiraiya decided then that starting next year, Naruto's training would begin.

* * *

**After seeing what Ninja are capable of, Naruto begins studying to become a ninja! Despite only being two years old, Fukasaku is teaching him the history of the Ninja world. Jiraiya will train him in ninjutsu as soon as he is old enough to comprehend the chakra control exercises.**

**Will Naruto be a genius of the Ninja world? Or will he be the dead last?**

**Only Time Will Tell!**

_So, next chapter there will be another time skip, and Naruto will have grown in both size and skill._

_See you next time!_


	5. Chapter 4: The Academy

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 4**

**The Academy**

It was summer in Konoha, nine years after Orochimaru's defection. The sun was shining in the early morning; the heat was visible over the dirt roads of the village. A perfect day for a dip in the local hot springs, and one boy was taking advantage.

Naruto Uzumaki, eleven years old, was perched on the back of a massive orange toad, his eye peering through a hole in a wooden fence as he scribbled notes furiously into a bright orange notebook. He wore orange robes with a blue flame pattern that fell around his knees when he stood straight, with a mesh undershirt, blue pants and sandals. On his forehead he wore a pair of dark goggles and on his shoulder was a black book bag. Another, smaller toad was perched on his forehead.

"Naruto," said Gamakichi from atop his head. "What time is it?"

"Dad's gonna love these," he said, grinning lecherously. The toad croaked in return, looking through a hole of its own. Gamakichi's statement registered in his pubescent brain and he looked down at his watch. His expression soured. "Shit, I'm gonna be late!"

He punched the toad in the head and closed his book.

"Come on Gama," he said. "Gimme a ride!"

"I ain't a horse!" said the Toad.

"But I want to make a good impression!"

"Kid, you're too noisy to make a good impression on anyone! When I first saw you, you were wailing like a baby!"

"I was a baby you asshole!" shouted Naruto.

"What was that?" screeched a voice from within the hot springs.

"Crap!" wailed Naruto, shoving his things into his bag. "Let's get outta here!"

He leapt off of Gama and ran up the wall of the nearest building, using his chakra as a foothold. After he made it to the top of the building, he made a run for it, leaping from rooftop to rooftop towards the great Hokage monument and the Academy underneath.

When the enraged women made it around the side of the building, there was nothing there but a giant toad that looked incredibly nervous.

"Ribbit," it said awkwardly.

"The peeper must have gotten away!" shouted one of the women, running down the street in search of anyone who looked suspicious.

* * *

The Hokage watched Naruto's antics from his crystal ball, a look of distaste on his features.

"Like father like son," said the old ninja, glaring up at his former student.

"What?" said Jiraiya, sipping a cup of tea from the chair across from Sarutobi's desk. "He's just expressing himself as a young man. Nothing to worry about."

"I hope he didn't inherit your knack for grand entrances?"

Jiraiya didn't say a word.

"What have you got Jiraiya?"

"I've got Intel saying Orochimaru has bases in the Land of Rice. I think that might be a red light because Rice has a Hidden Village now. Otogakure."

"I don't like it. Have we contacted Oto?"

"We can't. We don't know where they are and the Rice Daimyo refuses to speak on the matter."

"Disturbing," mumbled Sarutobi, puffing his pipe. "Well, if that's all, the apartment you requested for yourself and Naruto is set up near my mansion."

"Thanks sensei."

Sarutobi leaned forward and looked at his student.

"How has Naruto's training progressed? You insisted on him entering the class halfway through the year, and so damn late. He'd better have some skill."

"His chakra control is passable," said Jiraiya. "He can tree climb and walk on water, but it's still not enough for him to make a working clone. All of his get too much chakra pumped into them and end up looking like retarded ragdolls."

"Can he perform any jutsus at all?"

"His Kawarimi and his Henges are spot on. He even made one up, a distraction tactic called the Sexy Jutsu."

"I don't want to know," said Sarutobi. "Anything else?"

"His chakra is massive, as you've likely heard from Tsunade. He can summon Gamabunta without too much of a drain. I learned early on that he's a Wind type."

"Like Asuma?"

"Yes, but Naruto only knows one wind jutsu. He also knows Toad Oil Bullet."

"How's his taijutsu?"

"He developed a unique style that emulates the toads and is suited for his lack of height. You probably noticed him crouching instead of sitting. That's his taijutsu stance. He's got a ton of leg strength for someone his age and he utilizes it. He only uses his hands for weapons and defense."

"Impressive!" said Sarutobi, leaning forward with interest.

"Yeah," said Jiraiya. "Like father like son!"

* * *

"Alright class," said the Chunin Instructor Iruka Umino to a classroom full of wannabe shinobi. They noticed he sounded especially agitated. "We were supposed to have a new student today but he hasn't shown up yet, so I guess we'll have to start without—"

Suddenly an orange blur came crashing in through the open door and slammed right into Iruka, sending the teacher stumbling into the wall. The newcomer hopped onto Iruka's desk in a crouching position with one arm over his head, his elbow bent and his hand outstretched. His other arm was pointed towards the class and his hand was open. Then some fireworks in his sleeves went off and confetti shot out.

Everyone was silent, staring at the new kid in abject horror as Iruka climbed to his feet and began shouting.

"Naruto!" screamed Iruka. "Don't just come barreling in at high speeds and knock me around! I'm your sensei for god's sake! Now clean this up."

"I think he's talking to you Naruto," whispered Gamakichi, but Naruto refused to come out of his posed, a determined frown on his face.

Naruto suddenly moved. His arms began to rotate slowly around his body until they were in opposite positions of where they'd started.

"The Great Sage Naruto Uzumaki has arrived!" he shouted. Iruka then punched him in the back of the head and sent him sprawling.

"Just sit down!"

Naruto stepped up the stairs to the desks, growling indignantly until he found an open seat next to a kid with a blue shirt and a haircut that distinctly resembled the backside of a duck. But Naruto wasn't rude enough to comment on it. He hopped up onto the chair and squatted down, balancing on his toes. The class began chattering again, mostly talking about the weird new kid with the frog on his head.

"Tough crowd," mumbled Naruto.

"Yeah, you're tellin' me," said Gamakichi. "I thought it was perfect."

"Quiet," said Iruka, silencing the class. He began to give roll call. He went through all the names on the list, Naruto finding some of the names a bit familiar, but since he'd lived on Myoboku, he didn't really know anyone from the village other than the owner of the ramen shop he and his dad frequented. It was Naruto's favorite and he begged for it every time they came down.

"Haruno?" said Iruka, looking around. "That's odd, Sakura's never late. Ino's gone too."

Naruto wondered who Iruka was talking about until a dark, evil presence suddenly washed over him. He could sense it coming, but no one in the room seemed to respond to it. As it came closer, he could feel another evil presence. Then he heard it.

"_**Get the hell away from me Ino-pig!"**_ screamed the terrifying voice from down the hall. The boy next to Naruto only sighed and rolled his eyes.

"_**You first Forehead-bitch!"**_ screamed another voice.

Suddenly a girl with pink hair and a pink dress burst in from the hallway and gave a cry for victory, running up the steps to the desks. Another girl, blonde with blue eyes and a purple outfit came barreling in, charging after the pink haired girl.

The first girl almost went barreling right into Naruto but was met with resistance when she felt the bottom of a sandal meet her forehead.

She fell backwards into the blonde and they both went crashing to the floor.

"Hey jerk!" shouted the pinkette. "Get out of my chair!"

"No that's my seat Forehead!" said the blonde. "I called it!"

Forehead spun around on the blonde before Naruto spoke up.

"What's so special about this chair?" he asked, looking down at it and around it. "Are there special seals to make it more comfy or something?"

"You idiot!" said Forehead, rounding on him. "I just want to sit with Sasuke-kun!"

Naruto looked at the boy next to him and assumed that this was Sasuke. Naruto looked back at her with a questioning glance.

"Does he have special seals on him or something?"

The girl proceeded to punch him in the head, and Gamakichi had to jump onto the desk to avoid it.

"What the hell was that for?" screamed Naruto, raising his fist to deck the girl.

"Sakrua!" shouted Iruka. "Stop being a brat and go sit down by Hinata! Ino, sit by Kiba! Naruto, I won't have you hitting girls in the classroom!"

Naruto tried to protest but was ignored by the sensei. Sakura and Ino took seats in different parts of the classroom, and he could feel their gazes boring into the back of his skull all day. Today was off to a great start.

"You okay buddy?" asked Naruto, looking down at Gamakichi.

"The girls here are scary," said Gamakichi, shaking with fear.

* * *

The first part of class was about the history of the village, and the tactics used by many shinobi of the past. Naruto pulled out a second note book and began taking some notes. Iruka seemed to notice and smiled at him. Naruto grinned back, but not because he was a good student, but because he was ranking the girls in the class based on looks and to help him predict which ones would develop the soonest.

Later, it was time for kunai and shuriken practice. Naruto went outside with the rest of the class and when they made it to the target area; he crouched in the shade and put his goggles on over his eyes, relaxing until it was his turn. The field was set up with multiple human shaped targets with vital areas marked.

He watched the class take turns. The Sakura girl had okay aim, but didn't manage to hit the bull's-eye on the targets. Ino was average as well. Naruto didn't really care, he just enjoyed watching girls. The kid named Shikamaru didn't even try. His shuriken and Kunai mostly hit the legs. The fat kid Chouji was average. Kiba, the kid with the hood and the puppy in his shirt had pretty good aim. One of his kunai hit the bull's-eye and two of his shurikens did as well. A cute girl he identified as being in the Hyuuga clan did the same as Kiba. She looked over at him and blushed, ducking back into the crowd.

Eventually, after a ton of other kids went, it was Naruto's turn. He stood up straight and gazed at his target from beneath his goggles, Gamakichi coaching him from atop his head with supporting words. He tossed his shuriken one at a time, two hitting the bull's-eye at the heart of the target dummy and one in the shoulder. He tossed his shuriken and one of them hit the head, worth extra points, while the others hit the shoulder and neck.

"Good job Naruto," said Iruka. Naruto gave the sensei and grin and a thumbs up that reminded him too much of Maito Gai. "Next is Sasuke."

Sasuke Uchiha walked up to the field, pulling out his three kunai. He threw them all simultaneously and they hit the bull's-eye without a hitch. The same happened for his shuriken.

"Go Sasuke-kuuun!" cheered the majority of the girls in their class. Naruto gave a sneer to the fangirl's and decided to congratulate Sasuke.

"Nice job man," said Naruto, walking up to the other boy. "Where'd you learn to throw like that?"

"I taught myself," replied Sasuke, not looking at Naruto as he retrieved his things from the dummies.

"We should train together sometime," Naruto said with a grin.

"I work better alone."

"You sure? My Ma and Pa always told me that working together was how Ninja's worked."

"I don't work with losers," snapped Sasuke. Naruto made a noise of frustration that sounded more like a croak than anything.

"Hey, I'm just trying to be friendly!" he yelled, stamping his feet in the dirt and waving his arms over his head.

"And that's why you're a loser. And I don't work with losers."

"Yeah!" said Sakura, moving in front of Naruto. "Losers like you! Now get lost!"

Naruto simply frowned at the girl, his eyes showing that she had dealt a nasty blow.

"Don't listen to her Naruto," said Gamakichi, realizing that his friend's feelings had been severely hurt. "She doesn't know what she's talkin' about!"

"Ew! A slimy frog!" she screeched. Gamakichi's expression changed to match Naruto's perfectly. Naruto then turned around and ran away from them.

"Wow," said Kiba, walking over to where they were standing. "That was horrible. Why did you shoot him down like that?"

"Because he was being a pest!" said Sakura. "Right Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke ignored them and walked away.

"You didn't even know the guy and you called him a loser?" said Chouji, walking past them with his kunai and shuriken in hand. "Really cold."

Sakura faltered.

"It's not my fault!" she claimed.

The other students aside from Sasuke and the ones who didn't see them verbally abuse the new kid only shook their heads and walked away from her coldly.

"Alright guys," called Iruka from the door to the Academy. "You can go inside and get your things, then meet back here for lunch. After that, its chakra control exercises."

* * *

Naruto sat underneath a large oak tree in the field with a swing hanging down from one of the branches, doing his best not to cry. His first day and he blew it. Now everyone hated him. He knew the confetti was a terrible idea. Gamakichi was sitting in his lap, sniffling and wiping tears from his eyes.

"S-stupid girl!" mumbled Gamakichi. "I'm a toad, not a frog. And it's not slime! It's mucus!"

Naruto nodded in comfirmation.

"What does she know?" he mumbled, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"Hey," said Kiba, the kid with the puppy and face paint. "Mind if I have lunch with you?"

Naruto nodded and moved over for the other boy, who sat down and set out a dish of dog food for his puppy and pulled out a sandwich for himself.

"I'm Kiba," he said. "And this is my partner Akamaru!"

The puppy yapped in greeting and began to munch happily on its food.

"I'm Naruto," said the blonde. "And this is my partner Gamakichi."

Gamakichi waved pathetically, his feelings still hurt.

"Can we sit with you guys?" asked Shikamaru, the boy with the pineapple head, standing next to them carrying his lunch bag. Chouji was with him, already munching on a bag of chips.

"Come on down," said Kiba cheerily. Akamaru barked his agreement.

"At least some people here are nice," sniffed Gamakichi as everyone joined them. Naruto reached into his bookbag and pulled out the lunch Ma had made for him and Gamakichi.

She had learned, eventually, that Naruto could not live off of insects alone, so she ended up learning to cook human food. While she didn't care for it, her talent with cooking crossed over well. As a special 'first day of school' meal, she included a frog shaped bento box with yakitori, spicy potato, scrambled egg on brown rice, and iyokan, some orange slices and a big bag of homemade candies. For Gamakichi was a much smaller bento with grilled crickets and the like.

Naruto passed around some of his candies and they all ate together, getting to know each other, laughing and joking amongst themselves.

"Wait," said Kiba, waving his hands in front of him. "You're saying you spent your whole life until now, living with giant toads?"

"Yup," said Naruto proudly. "Me and Gamakichi have been buddies since he sprouted legs."

"My dad is the Toad Chief," said Gamakichi, holding his head up high.

"Did you live off of bugs?" asked Chouji with a look of disgust. Naruto laughed at the look on his face.

"Ma tried to force 'em on me but Dad and Pa wouldn't let her."

"Wait, so the Ma and Pa you mentioned to Sasuke are toads too?" asked Shikamaru with a raised eyebrow. "That had to be troublesome."

"Nah," said Naruto. "My dad kept me away from bugs. He made Ma learn to cook real food."

"Stop saying that," said Gamakichi with a huff. "Our food is good! That's offensive!"

"Is your dad a toad?" asked Kiba.

"Nah, he's a shinobi from Konoha," said Naruto. They accepted his answer and they went back to eating their lunch and talking about each other. Kiba was from a clan that raised dogs, and partnered with them like Kiba and Akamaru. Shikamaru was from a clan that controlled shadows raised deer and made medicine. Chouji's clan ate. A lot.

Naruto's mood improved immensely after lunch with his new friends and, after switching to a seat near Kiba in class, the rest of the day went off without a hitch. He did the chakra control exercises without complaining since he knew he needed to work on it.

After school, he said goodbye to his new friends and ran home to the apartment that Jiraiya had landed for them. He burst in through the front door and tossed his bag on the couch in the front room. It wasn't an extravagant place, despite Jiraiya's apparent wealth thanks to the success of his first two novels, but it was their new home. It was modestly furnished with a good sized television and two bedrooms.

Apparently the Hokage did not want them just poofing from Konoha to Mt. Myoboku on a daily basis and insisted they take up residence in the village. After a lot of tears from Ma, hugs to Pa, Gamabunta, Gamahiro and a recommendation to avoid ungraceful behavior from Gamaken, as well as a party at Gamaken's tavern, they had returned to the Leaf permanently.

Jiraiya noticed straight away that no one seemed to recognize Naruto for who he was, and took it as a blessing. He didn't want Naruto walking around alone and suddenly noticing that everyone was glaring at him.

"Dad, are you here?" he called.

"In here," Jiraiya called back from his own bedroom. When Naruto entered the room, Jiraiya was looking through a telescope at the hot springs below. "I think the old man put us here on purpose."

"Let me look!" said Naruto, bouncing on his heels.

"Wait your god damned turn!" shouted Jiraiya as they began fighting over the telescope.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Shit!" hissed Jiraiya. "Hide the telescope! And our notes!"

"Why?" Naruto hissed back.

"It's Tsunade!"

"Oh shit!"

"Yeah! I know!"

The two of them then scrambled to put away any incriminating evidence and then closed the blinds in Jiraiya's bedroom. Naruto yanked out his homework and pretended to be doing it. Jiraiya looked on proudly at his little sneak. They grew up so fast.

Before Jiraiya could open the door, Tsunade kicked it open.

"What the hell was taking so long you old pervert?" she demanded. Even at the age of fifty, she retained her beauty. Sure it could be attributed to a henge, but no one should ever say that out loud.

"We were doing homework," said Jiraiya.

"Bullshit. I'm breaking that telescope."

She sat down next to Naruto and turned to face him.

"So how was your first day brat?" she asked.

"Well," he said. "It started out a little rough. No one liked the dynamic entry me and Dad practiced."

Tsunade shot Jiraiya an evil glare as he tried to sneak off.

"Then that Sasuke kid called me a loser and this pink haired girl made fun of me," he said, avoiding her gaze. A vein appeared on her forehead. "But then a bunch of the kids ate lunch with me and Gamakichi. They were really nice!"

Tsunade smiled at her surrogate nephew and ruffled his hair.

"Well, if the mean kids ever come to my clinic I'll make sure they leave for the hospital."

Naruto grinned and started on his homework.

Tsunade remained there for a few hours, drinking Jiraiya's liquor and talking to Naruto and Jiraiya about events around the village. Eventually she hugged Naruto, who resisted the urge to cop a feel, like his dad had coached him to, and staggered out of the apartment.

After dinner with Jiraiya, Naruto turned in for the night. Gamakichi got permission from Gamabunta to stay with them, and he slept in a box on Naruto's bedside table.

The next day they got up, long before Jiraiya did, and showered. Gamakichi sat on the soap shelf in the tub and sang to himself. They had a quick breakfast of ramen and grubs, and then headed out, Jiraiya's snoring still wafting out of his bedroom.

Naruto got to school on time that day, and sat down without too much of a commotion. He sat next to Kiba in his usual crouch and listened to Iruka while taking more notes on the girls of the class. Sakura and Ino got there on time as well, still screaming at eachother. Iruka seemed to just tune them out. Ino won the seat next to Sasuke, and Sakura sat next to Ino, fuming.

That day at lunch, he sat with Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, but they were later joined by Shino of the bug using Aburame clan, a boy of few words but many opinions. Hinata Hyuuga was very shy, but was coaxed over by Kiba when they caught her watching from the distance.

Naruto grinned at all the new friends he seemed to be making. Sakura, on the alternate side of things saw that everyone was beginning to ignore her for the way she'd jumped on Naruto the day before. She watched them all eating lunch together, and resigned herself to eating alone.

This went on for several weeks. Naruto's knowledge of general tactics and overall chakra control increased, and he and his friends from class became more comfortable with each other. Hinata even stopped blushing long enough to share some fun stories about outings with her family.

Eventually they were approached by someone they didn't expect.

"Hey," said Sakura, standing awkwardly away from the group.

"Hey," said Shikamaru.

"Listen," said Sakura, avoiding everyone's gazes. "I'm really sorry about before, Naruto."

"Why'd you wait so long to—" Kiba started to shout at her, but Naruto cut her off.

"It's okay," he said.

"Are you sure?" she said, looking at him.

"Yeah," he said. "You can sit down with us if you want right guys?"

Gamakichi refused to look at Sakura.

"I'm not a frog," he said resolutely.

"What?" she asked.

"I'm not a frog. I'm a toad. And I'm not slimy!"

He turned around on Naruto's head and stared at her harshly.

"I wanna hear you say it!" he shot at her.

"You're not a frog," she said. "You're a toad. And you're not slimy. And I'm sorry."

"Works for me," said Gamakichi, looking at everyone else. "What do you guys think?"

Everyone traded glances and nodded, making room for Sakura. So, she joined their lunch group every day. Later, Chouji and Shikamaru convinced Ino to eat with them, since she usually ate in the classroom, and despite her bickering with Ino, it was all put aside, as the nine of them would sit down underneath the oak tree in the training field to eat, laugh and play together.

From his desk in the classroom, Sasuke Uchiha looked out the window down at the large group and sighed, going back to his lunch and doing his best to ignore their laughter.

After lunch it was time for taijutsu practice. They'd only been given it as homework since Naruto had gotten there, and he'd been practicing with Gama. Now it was time to practice with people his own age. He watched other matches before him; everyone was using a similar style, probably provided by the Academy. Nothing truly impressive, though he noted that Kiba was rather vicious. Chouji was using a mainly defensive style that worked for him. Sakura was crap at taijutsu. Hinata's Gentle Fist looked scary as hell with her Byakugan eyes turned on and the fact that it was aiming for all the most vital areas of the human body. Her opponent ended up very numb. Shikamaru forfeited. Naruto didn't really understand his deal

Next it was Naruto, and he was being paired up with Sasuke. Naruto left Gamakichi in the care of Kiba.

Naruto was still upset with the boy for being so mean to him, so when they made it to the ring, he just stared at him, croaking noises coming from the bottom of his throat as he tried to contain his anger.

"Sasuke, Naruto," said Iruka. "Bow and give the sign of good-will, then you can start on my mark."

Naruto and Sasuke complied half heartedly.

"I'll show you who's the loser," growled Naruto. Sasuke just grunted.

As soon as Iruka told them to go, Sasuke took his stance, but Naruto stayed in his crouching position.

"Take your stance," said the raven haired boy.

"I'm already in my stance asshole!" said Naruto, shaking his fists about. Sasuke rolled his eyes and charged at Naruto.

Naruto's eyes went wide and a look of concentration came over his face as he suddenly jumped higher than anyone expected, leaping right over Sasuke with his legs out in a near split. He landed behind Sasuke in his crouching position, with his hands out at his sides.

Sasuke turned around and grunted in irritation, running at him again. Naruto waited for him to get there and ducked under a punch, extending his legs and driving his head, and by extension his goggles into Sasuke's gut. Sasuke was knocked back, not expecting that as Naruto jumped to his full height and came at him with a combination of swift kicks.

Sasuke did his best to block the blows, but they had a bit of force behind them. Sasuke managed to get his bearing and caught Naruto's leg, swinging him around and tossing him away. Naruto rolled backwards and caught himself leaping forwards and running at Sasuke low to the ground. He then jumped up with a roundhouse kick that was blocked and followed up with a few more sweeps and lunges

Sasuke shoved Naruto's leg to the ground and tried to hit him with a swift jab but it was dodged and Sasuke narrowly avoided a knee to the gut. Naruto then swept Sasuke's legs out from under him and went to nail him in the chest with an axe kick.

Sasuke rolled out of the way and leapt to his feet. This kid was surprisingly strong. Sasuke hadn't landed a hit yet, and the kid managed to hit him once. Now that Sasuke knew his style, they were quite evenly matched. Sasuke wouldn't take this sitting down. He was the strongest. He knew it, and he wouldn't let anyone prove to him otherwise.

He ran in at Naruto and jumped over a leg sweep, his foot shooting out and landing right in between Naruto's eyes. Naruto went stumbling back and landed on his rear end. Sasuke ran through hand seals and Naruto's eyes widened. This wasn't a ninjutsu test!

Naruto ran through hand seals of his own when he realized what technique Sasuke was using. He'd seen his dad use it plenty of times.

"_Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" _Sasuke shouted as a great fireball burst from his lips and sped at Naruto.

"_Fūton: Daitoppa!" _Shouted Naruto, thrusting his palms forward as a great gust of wind struck the fireball causing it to explode in the middle of the ring.

"That's enough!" shouted Iruka, jumping in between them. "This is a taijutsu test, not a ninjutsu test. Sasuke, that's points off for losing your cool like that. I'm very disappointed in you. Naruto, you pass, your taijutsu is very impressive."

As they went back to the classroom, Naruto couldn't help but look at Sasuke and see the boy was giving him a vicious glare. Naruto stuck his tongue out at him and started dancing. Sasuke rolled his eyes and returned to class.

That wasn't the last time they fought in taijutsu class. Every other time they fought it ended up with similar results. It got too vicious and Iruka had to call them off. At least they both had an A in the class.

* * *

**Two months later**

Naruto had become very close with his classmates since he'd arrived at the Academy. He may not have been there as long, but he still enjoyed it. He also learned a lot of things from them as well. Kiba taught him a bit about tracking, Ino taught him about flowers, at least when the colors were enough to catch his interest. Shino tended to avoid Naruto when he was with Gamakichi due to an incident where Gamakichi was caught snacking on Shino's bugs during a friendly visit to the Aburame compound.

Sakura, as an added apology, taught Naruto a bit more chakra control, but no matter what they did, he still couldn't do a proper Bunshin jutsu.

They were all gathered at Chouji's favorite barbeque place when the matter came up.

"Really Naruto," said Ino, waving her chopsticks at him from across the table. "You can't have chakra control that's that terrible. You can already walk on water!"

"My dad says I have trouble when it comes to Bunshin because I have to mold my chakra a certain way and I always put in way too much. He said they were like retarded ragdolls."

"Your dad sounds like a funny guy," said Kiba. "Who is he anyway?"

"Jiraiya of the Sannin," said Naruto, picking his meat off of the grill in the middle of the table. Everyone froze.

"Wait," said Shikamaru. "Your dad, Naruto's dad… is Jiraiya the Toad Sage?"

Naruto nodded with a mouth full of meat.

"How did you guys not get that?" asked Gamakichi, wondering just how dumb Konoha ninjas were.

"I never really thought about it," said Hinata quietly.

"None of us did," said Chouji with a mouthful of food.

"You guys are retarded," said Sakura. "I realized it when he talked about his life with the toads."

"So if your dad is a legendary ninja," said Shikamaru, ignoring Sakura's jab. "How come you aren't… better? I mean, I get that you can already walk on trees and water, that's something none of us can do, but still."

"Dad says my chakra control sucks because I have too much chakra to work with," said Naruto. "And he only taught me two jutsus besides the academy three. He refuses to teach me any more until I become a Genin."

"Why?"

"He said he doesn't want to waste his time when he could be doing research for his next book."

"Excuse me," said a voice from the next table over. It was a masked Jounin with grey hair and his forehead protector over one of his eyes. "Did you say Jiraiya-sama is working on a new book?"

"Yup!" said Naruto. "I'm helping with the research, but he said it won't be done for another few years."

The scarecrow-like ninja nodded sagely and returned to his meal.

"Anyway," said Ino. "You need to finish learning the Bunshin if you ever want to pass the Genin exams."

**Four months later**

"Come on Dad!" shouted Naruto. "I need to learn the Bunshin in three days if I want to pass the exams, but I just can't do it!"

Naruto had been begging Jiraiya for hours to teach him the Bunshin technique, but Jiraiya refused, telling Naruto repeatedly that it was his own fault for having so much chakra. Jiraiya told him this while writing on a large scroll with his ink brush. They were in the kitchen at the dinner table, Naruto pacing around across from his father.

"Dad will you quit writing your book for ten minutes and help me please?" Naruto pleaded, falling on his knees on the verge of tears.

"Calm down brat!" said Jiraiya sternly. "I'm not writing my damn book! I'm helping!"

Jiraiya pushed the scroll to Naruto's side of the table. Naruto stood up and started reading the scroll.

"This is a forbidden Jutsu Naruto," said Jiraiya. "But since you have such an amazing dad, I figured I'd throw you a bone."

"The Kage Bunshin?" Naruto looked up at Jiraiya with a wide grin.

* * *

**Will the Kage Bunshin Technique be enough to impress the teachers at the Genin Exams? Or will Naruto crash and burn? What are the jutsus that he already knows? Only time will tell!**

_This chapter was a ton of fun to work on. I really enjoyed establishing a relationship with the kids who would eventually become the Rookie 9. Sakura may have been a bit harsh at first, but hey. Hormones man. Naruto won't be super powerful with this fic, but he does have kind of a boost on the other students. Is he a prodigy? No, but he's got Jiraiya for a dad and Toad Sages as his grandparents._

_I hope you enjoyed this installment! Next time is the Genin exams!_


	6. Chapter 5: Genin of the Leaf

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 5**

**Genin of the Leaf**

"Has anyone seen Naruto?" Chouji asked Kiba as he and Shikamaru met the Inuzuka outside of the Academy. "He didn't show up to school at all yesterday or the day before."

"I know," said Kiba. "And today is the exams. He's only been here half a year, it would really suck to have to repeat the Academy classes."

"I know," said Shikamaru with a yawn. "Which is why I intend to do the bare minimum."

"Maybe he's just been trying to get the Bunshin down," said Kiba. "I'm sure he'll have gotten it today."

"Nope," said Naruto as appeared on the wall bordering the school grounds, crouching on the edge as he slurped noisily at a cup of ramen. "Bunshin sucks. I got something better."

"The hell does that mean?" asked Kiba. "I know you're smart Naruto, but you ain't passing without the Bunshin."

"I'm not gonna spoil the surprise!" hissed Naruto, hopping off of the wall without spilling his soup.

"I like surprises," said Gamakichi from his perch on Naruto's head.

"Well it sure as hell isn't your birthday," said Shikamaru. "Let's just get inside, its freaking dull out here."

"You have no appreciation for nature," said Naruto as they entered their classroom.

"I appreciate clouds," said Shikamaru.

"That's because that's all you've got in between those ears of yours," said Ino from her desk at the front of the room.

"If I wanted a woman's opinion," said Shikamaru, taking a seat at the top of the stairs. "I'd get yelled at by my mom."

Kiba made a whipping noise with his teeth as he and Naruto started shoving each other for a spot in the aisle. Akamaru leapt out of Kiba's jacket and latched onto Naruto's chin, getting a squeal of pain from the blonde. Kiba fell down the stairs laughing. When he finally got his bearings and finished coughing up a lung, he saw that Naruto was crouching on the desk and holding Akamaru by the scruff of his neck, glaring menacingly at the puppy that just wagged its tail and yapped.

"Let go of him!" shouted Kiba, tackling Naruto off of the desk. Gamakichi hopped off of Naruto onto the desk next to Akamaru as the two of them watched Naruto and Kiba fight. The two of them wrestled on the floor, scattering chairs everywhere.

"Will you two shut the hell up?" screeched Sakura, punching them both in the heads before taking a seat at the front of the room. Apparently she didn't appreciate coming in to a war zone that early in the morning.

The two of them sat down in seats next to eachother, Kiba winning the aisle seat after a heated duel of rock paper scissors.

Sasuke came in a few minutes later and took a seat near the back of the class. Sakura and Ino got into a big fuss about who would sit next to him until Kiba shouted at them to just sit on either side of him. It then turned into a fight over who would sit on what side.

Eventually Sasuke got sick of it and sat in the corner, blocked off by two other potential Genin named Gento and an unfortunately named boy, Hime. No one really associated with him because who wanted to sit near a kid named 'Princess'?

Eventually Iruka and another Chunin named Mizuki came in and took a seat behind a table put in the room for the exams. The teachers went through the details of the exam. First would be a written test, then a kunai and shuriken toss, then it would be a taijutsu match against Mizuki, and after that would be the test of the Academy Three ninjutsu, the Henge, the Kawirimi, and the Bunshin.

Naruto had a bit of trouble on the written portion of the exam because, as mentioned before, he was more concerned with rating the girls in class than paying attention. Fukaaku's lessons from his young age paid off though, and he passed with a C+. He knew the basic history of Konoha and he made for a good tactician, but his strong suit was heat of the moment action, not planned attacks.

It was the math that nearly killed him. Even Jiraiya sucked at math, and Fukasaku and Shima had no idea what algebra was. Naruto struggled through it, but came out with a pass, and that was good enough for him.

The weapons portion was passed with flying colors for Naruto. He managed to hit all of the vital areas, except for his shuriken toss in which one of them just missed and hit the target in the gut. He came out with an A-.

In his taijutsu match with Mizuki he caught the Chunin off guard with his Toad style. He landed a few good hits on Mizuki, but lost when he was hit in the back of the neck and ended up rolling around on the ground in pain. Mizuki helped him up and apologized.

"Sorry Naruto-kun," said Mizuki. "I had to finish you off so the others could get a turn.

"its fine Sensei," said Naruto, nursing the back of his neck. "Coulda just surrendered."

Mizuki and Naruto shared a bit of a laugh as he ran back to his friends. Mizuki-sensei seemed like a nice guy.

When it came to the ninjutsu, Naruto decided to play around a bit. The Kawirimi was done perfectly, he replaced himself with Sasuke.

"Interesting Naruto," said Iruka as the students switched back, glaring hotly at each other. "If you applied that in battle and switched with an opponent without them noticing, you could kill them with their own technique. I would not recommend doing it against someone stronger than you though, they could kill you in mid-switch."

Naruto grinned and nodded at his sensei.

"Okay," said Iruka. "Now transform into me, and do your best to get me perfectly."

Naruto grinned before shouting _"Sexy Jutsu!"_

In a puff of smoke he was definitely Iruka… except this Iruka was naked, had a much longer ponytail and was… a woman. A very well endowed woman.

"Hey Mizuki-senpai," said Naruto seductively. "How do you like my sexy nose scar?"

Mizuki fell out of his chair, choking on his coffee, but had to get in the way when Iruka tried to charge at Naruto.

"Naruto I'll kill you for that!" the teacher wailed over the uproarious laughter of his students.

"Calm down Iruka," said Mizuki, trying to contain his laughter. "It was just a joke!"

Naruto returned to normal and sniggered with delight. When Iruka calmed down, he was beet red and sat back down noisily.

"You pass that one in my book Naruto," said Mizuki.

Iruka nodded and ordered Naruto to do a bunshin, with no funny business. Naruto nodded and did the wrong hand sign. A normal clone jutsu was done with the ram, snake and tiger hand signs. Naruto only crossed his forefingers. With a poof, four copies appeared next to him.

"Naruto," said Iruka slowly, his eyes going wide. "Are those… shadow clones?"

"Why don't you throw a shuriken and find out?" asked Naruto with a grin. Mizuki pulled one out and looked at Iruka for permission. Iruka nodded and Mizuki threw the weapon. What they didn't know was that Naruto was wearing pads with metal plates in between them under his shirt. He'd put them on as everyone gathered into the classroom for the ninjutsu test. The clone felt the impact, but didn't disappear. Instead it clutched at the kunai and fell to the floor, eyes rolling into the back of its head.

"What did you do?" screamed the real Naruto.

"Shit!" both instructors cried at the same time. Then Naruto fell to the floor laughing, dissipating the clones, the shuriken clattering to the floor.

"I can't believe you guys fell for that!" Naruto gasped. He suddenly felt a shadow over him as both Chunins appeared, their faces shadowed as they cracked their knuckles. Naruto chuckled pathetically as he prepared for quite the lecture.

* * *

"I can't believe you Naruto!" growled Kiba as he, Naruto and the rest of their group sat gathered outside for lunch. "You learned a B-rank forbidden jutsu and the first thing you did with it was pull a prank. _And _you still passed. Good work."

All of them had passed, including Sasuke, and were wearing their shiny new forehead protectors on different parts of their bodies. It looked as though Naruto and Chouji , Kiba and Shino were the only ones wearing them on their foreheads though. Naruto had moved his favorite goggles around his neck. He figured they would be useful later on. He was just ecstatic to finally be a ninja, as was everyone else in the group.

After they were awarded their forehead protectors, Iruka informed them that they had a week to themselves before Genin teams were assigned a Jounin instructor. He then dismissed them with a heartfelt goodbye and released them

Almost everyone was greeted by their parents, aside from Naruto, as he knew Jiraiya had a meeting with the Hokage, and decided to stick around the field at lunch. All of his friends decided to hang out with him for a while longer. Sasuke was eating his lunch in the classroom before going home.

Naruto cackled evilly, despite the red mark on his cheek where Iruka had decked him.

"The look on their faces was priceless," he said, munching on a bag of chip's he'd bought before school.

"Yes," said Shino. "You did manage to pass. Why you ask? Because despite your foolishness, you showed excellent skills in distracting maneuvers and planning ahead."

"Dad helped me with the planning," said Naruto, brushing crumbs off of his robes. It got on Gamakichi, who was in his lap, and the little toad hopped over to the middle of their circle.

"Jiraiya, the legendary ninja and Toad Sage," said Ino, eating her sushi while lying on her stomach in the grass. "Total class act."

"And a pervert," said Sakura. "He got caught spying on the women in the hot springs yesterday."

"How'd you hear about that?" asked Ino.

"I was freaking there," said Sakura, shaking her head. "With my mother!"

"So that's why you punched me this morning," said Naruto, rubbing his head.

"I punched you because you're a loud mouthed idiot," she snapped. "I should punch you again for living with that excuse of a ninja!"

"That wasn't nice," said the shonobi in question, crouching on a tree branch above them, looking genuinely hurt.

"Hey Dad!" said Naruto. All of his friends looked a bit star struck. None of them had met one of the Legendary Sannin before. He flashed his brand new forehead protector to the Sage. "Look! I'm a ninja now!"

"Hey punk," said Jiraiya. "Congrats. Now give me some of those chips."

"Get your own you damn mooch!"

"Why you!" Jiraiya leapt down from the tree and grabbed Naruto in a choke hold, grabbing the chips and dumping them into his mouth.

"Dammit Dad!" shouted Naruto. "That's my freaking lunch!"

"Technically, they're mine since you bought them with the allowance money I gave you."

"Stop complaining Naruto," said Sakura. "I'm on a diet. All I've eaten today was a bowl of spinach leaves and an orange.

"That's disgusting," said Jiraiya, shaking some chips from the bag in Sakura's direction. "A woman who doesn't get her two thousand calories ends up with a flat chest and no hips!"

Sakura blushed furiously and covered herself.

"I'll kill you!" she screeched, throwing her backpack at Jiraiya, who blocked with Naruto's face.

"What do you even want?" choked Naruto.

"Well, of course I came to congratulate you guys on becoming Genin," said Jiraiya, releasing Naruto and giving him back his chips. "I didn't realize how many friends you've made. Are you guys the only graduates?"

"That asshole Sasuke Uchiha passed too," said Kiba, taking a swig from his water bottle.

"Oh, so the last Uchiha is in your class Naruto?" asked Jiraiya, looking down at his son.

"Last?" said Naruto, looking up.

"Didn't you know Naruto?" said Sakura. "Sasuke's brother slaughtered their entire clan. He's the last of them."

"That's heavy," said Naruto, scratching his chin.

"That's the reason he's such a dick," said Shikamaru, laying on his back and watching the clouds from between the leaves.

"Well I hope he's okay," said Ino, looking over her shoulder into the classroom window above them. "It's gotta suck, being by yourself all the time."

"Tell you what," said Jiraiya. "You guys meet me at that barbecue restaurant down the street from the Academy tomorrow and I'll buy lunch for everyone to celebrate. If, that is, you can get Sasuke to come. Consider it your first mission as Ninjas."

Chouji's eyes suddenly lit up, and his expression became serious. It was his favorite place in town. He couldn't miss the chance for a free meal! Shikamaru slapped him on the back.

"Don't drag him Chouji, he'll just fight back and you'll end up breaking things," said the lazy boy.

Chouji slumped forward when he realized his best friend was right.

"I'll leave you guys to it," said Jiraiya. He then Body Flickered away.

"So what do we do?" said Kiba. He was answered when Naruto stood up and ran into the Academy. His friends looked at each other and scrambled to their feet to follow him.

When they got there, they were met with a terrifying sight. Naruto was squatting on Sasuke's desk… well, more like in his lunch. Sasuke's sandwich was crushed under Naruto's toes and the Uchiha was glaring daggers up at the blonde. Naruto had his face two inches from Sasuke's.

"What the fuck," grumbled Sasuke. "Are you doing to my food?"

"Fuck your food," Naruto croaked back. That just got Sasuke even angrier.

"I am going to murder you," Sasuke growled.

"I have a better idea," said Naruto. "We go outside, and we fight, one on one, no rules, jutsus and below the belts allowed. If you win, my Dad treats you and the rest of the Genin in our class to a free lunch tomorrow. I win, you treat us."

"Deal!" roared Sasuke, shoving Naruto off of the desk and storming outside.

The Genins looked on in horror as Sasuke bought the flat out lie.

Naruto ran up to his friends and brushed himself off.

"I can't believe that worked," he said with a grin as he followed Sasuke.

"Naruto," said Chouji. "Do you really expect to win?"

"Nope," said Naruto, in a hushed whisper.

They stopped walking as Naruto ran out the door to meet Sasuke in the field.

_**"Idiot!"**_ most of them screamed. Except for Shino and Hinata. He just shook his head, and she whimpered. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and opted for a grunted "Troublesome."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke faced each other in the ring, Naruto taking his crouched stance and Sasuke taking his own. Naruto then darted forward, running low to the ground, bringing out a kunai and lunging at his opponent. Sasuke dodged the Kunai strike and pulled out his own Kunai, the two of them dodging and weaving in between each other's attempted slashes.

Naruto leapt up when Sasuke missed one and shot out a leg, nailing the Uchiha in the chin. Sasuke rolled back, absorbing the blow then jumping forward punching Naruto in the jaw. Naruto rolled with it and kicked Sasuke in the side, sending him staggering to his left. Naruto followed up with his Daitoppa jutsu to send Sasuke tumbling to the ground.

Naruto then leapt above Sasuke, attempting a brutal axe kick to his head. Sasuke rolled out of the way and threw a Kunai, which Naruto blocked with his own. Naruto took three steps forward and kicked Sasuke in the face, sending Sasuke even further back. Sasuke covered his bleeding nose and growled in frustration. No one could beat him, he was a genius!

Sasuke dodged the next kick and punched Naruto in the face again. Naruto was stunned, giving Sasuke the opportunity to jump forward and deal a punishing combo, two more punches to the gut and a palm strike to the face. Naruto fell back onto the ground and nearly screamed when Sasuke drove a knee into his gut.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's shirt and tossed him off, jumping onto him and punching him a few times. Sasuke tossed Naruto off with his legs and rolled to his feet, giving Naruto a vicious roundhouse kick to the back of the head. Naruto stumbled forward and turned, doing a few hand seals and spewing a foul smelling brown liquid from his lips, covering Sasuke. Sasuke tried to run toward him but realized that the oil was heavy, slowing him down by clinging to his body and increasing his weight.

When Sasuke got his bearings against the oil he threw three shuriken. Naruto avoided the first two but the third his his shoulder, leaving a deep gash. Naruto cried out and grabbed his shoulder.

Sasuke then ran up to the distracted Naruto and punched him in the stomach, hard. Naruto coughed and fell to his knees.

"See you at lunch, loser," said Sasuke. He was stopped when Naruto grabbed his shirt and mumbled something. "What?"

"That was," Naruto choked out, looking up at Sasuke and smiling. "A really good fight."

Naruto stood up and spit out some blood and toad oil. He then grabbed Sasuke's shoulder and shook it.

"Let's both get stronger," said Naruto. "And when we're Jounins, we'll fight even harder."

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a few seconds before swatting him away.

"Why did you really want to fight me?" he demanded.

"No one deserves to be alone," said Naruto. "As ninjas, it's our job to grow stronger together, as a unit. That's what my dad says. If we don't stick together, then we don't deserve to wear these headbands."

"I just want to be a ninja so I can get revenge," said Sasuke.

"Get your revenge," said Naruto, in obvious pain. "When you get stronger. Let us help you get stronger."

Sasuke stared at him, and then looked at the other Genins. He didn't look angry, like he usually did. He looked conflicted.

"Just meet us at the barbecue place down the street tomorrow at noon," said Naruto.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto and nodded.

"Oh, by the way," said Naruto. "That oil is thick as hell. It takes four hours in a regular shower to get off. Thought I'd let you know."

Naruto then laughed and ran as fast as he could. Sasuke was going to chase him, but the oil was still weighing him down.

"See you tomorrow Sasuke-kun!" said Sakura and Ino, running off. Everyone else waved and left. Sasuke had to drag his oily, smelly feet home. It took him an hour.

* * *

When Naruto got home he was greeted by Shima, Fukasaku, Tsunade and Shizune. They were waiting for him with cake and a few gifts of congratulations.

"So, Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku, hopping on his surrogate grandson's shoulder. "Finally a ninja I see."

"Oh, Naruto-boy," wept Shima. "He's becoming an adult! Stay away from those nasty women in the village! You're only twelve years old, do you hear me?"

"I hear you Ma," Naruto laughed, sitting next to Shizune on the couch. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We've decided to celebrate our little brat's graduation," Tsunade slurred, swinging an empty bottle of sake around her head.

"Jiraiya-sama isn't here," said Shizune, giving Naruto a present with one hand and holding Tonton with the other. "He had business with the Hokage."

What they failed to mention was that Jiraiya was apprehending Mizuki, the Chunin instructor. Jiraiya's increased connections in the village helped him figure out that the sensei was actually a spy for Orochimaru. Thankfully, Jiraiya's presence in the village averted a potential disaster.

Naruto happily opened his present to find a new robe, dark green with an orange lining on the inside and a black flame pattern.

"Ninjas can't be going around in bright orange all the time," said Shizune. "This will help you blend in to forest environments. I know you like orange so I sewed in the inner lining."

"Thanks Shizune-neechan!" he shouted, jumping on her to give her a hug.

"Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku, pulling out another present. It was a long box, and very heavy. "This is a gift from Gamahiro. He couldn't make it himself, but he got one of the smaller toad smiths to do it for him."

Naruto opened it to reveal a short sword. He unsheathed it slowly, the blade a dark obsidian color with a solid steel edge and the kanji for Oil engraved in the hilt. The handle had a leather grip.

"It's a chakra blade," said Fukasaku. "You can channel wind chakra into it to extend its reach or make it sharper. Your father will teach you how to use it properly when you are older, but I must implore you Naruto-boy, don't try until you have better chakra control or you could kill yourself and others around you."

Naruto smiled happily down at the blade, tracing his thumb over the symbol of Myoboku. He sheathed the blade and put it back in the box.

"I won't touch it until Dad decides I'm ready," he said with a grin. "Thanks Ma, Pa, Shizune-nee, Tsunade-baachan."

They all smiled back at him, except for Tsunade who tried to punch him in the head for the granny remark.

Soon, Jiraiya returned with more booze and some more gifts.

"Here kid," said Jiraiya, passing him a box. "Becoming a ninja means that you're a man now, so I want you to have these."

Naruto opened the box to reveal a massive pile of vintage porno magazines. He looked up at the sage with teary eyes.

"I love you dad!" he cried, dropping the box and hugging him tightly around the waist. Jiraiya returned the hug, at least until Tsunade saw what was inside the box.

"I don't think Naruto-boy enjoyed the sword as much as he did that box," said Fukasaku with exasperation lacing his voice.

Needless to say, Jiraiya didn't eat any cake that night. His lips and jaw were too swollen.

* * *

The next day, after a treatment from Shizune for his facial damage, Jiraiya and Naruto walked to the barbecue place. Everyone was waiting for them, surprisingly, with their parents. Jiraiya looked down at Naruto as though it were his fault. He didn't want to pay for eighteen people.

Shikamaru, Chouji and Ino had their moms and dads; Sakura and her pink haired mother were bickering over something. Hinata was with her father and sister, Shino's dad was there, Kiba was with his mother and Sasuke was by himself. He was getting by however, making small talk with Shino.

"Don't look at me like that," said Naruto. Gamakichi poked his head out of Naruto's orange robe. "I didn't know this would be a family affair."

"Jiraiya-san," said Hiashi Hyuuga. "My daughter seems to have been hanging around your son a bit lately. When she said she was coming here for lunch, I took it upon myself to gather the families that could attend this lunch. I want to help with the bill of course. I thought it suitable to celebrate their becoming of Genin. It is a great achievement, though I doubt Hinata has the motivation to do any better."

The girl in question looked down, her cheeks red. Jiraiya cringed when Naruto interjected.

"That's not fair," said Naruto with a look of general disapproval. "Hinata is really nice and she's a pretty good fighter. I think she'll do fine."

Hiashi grunted and gazed at Naruto with scrutiny. Naruto cringed like Jiraiya and took a step back.

"Don't look at me like that," said Naruto. "It's freaky as hell!"

Hiashi looked at Jiraiya, expecting discipline.

"Don't look at me like that either," said Jiraiya, taking a step back. "It really is freaky."

Hiashi shook his head and went inside, his daughters following closely.

"Don't mind him Jiraiya-sama," said Chouza Akimichi, Chouji's father. "He's always had a stick up his ass. Let's eat!"

The Akimichi men pounded their stomachs and crammed inside the restaurant. Chouza's wife, who was just as large as he was, shook her head and followed suit.

Sakura and the remaining Ina-Shika-Cho parents and Genins greeted Naruto and Jiraiya respectfully and headed inside. Shino and his father said nothing as they looked for somewhere to sit.

"This isn't a bad spot," Sasuke said to Naruto, avoiding eye contact.

"Dad picked it, and I guess its Chouji's favorite," said Naruto with a smile as they sat down next to eachother.

Lunch was anything but a formal affair. There was a lot of drinking, laughing, and general antics. Chouza and Chouji constantly ordered more, which served to irritate Jiraiya and Hiashi. Hiashi spoke very little, only when addressed and only commented on things about politics and world affairs. Ino's parents ran a flower shop when her father wasn't working for interrogation. Sakura's mother owned a small gift shop near the village gates. Shino and his father hardly spoke a word, only to deny an arm wrestling challenge from Naruto, and a sumo match from Chouza.

Shikaku Nara was in a good mood for the most part, except for when his wife was griping at him for drinking so much. He and his son had a lot of things to call troublesome that night. Sakura and Ino bickered off and on, and it nearly came to a food fight, which angered the Akimichis to the point of threats.

Jiraiya and Naruto were merry, Naruto drinking some of Jiraiya's sake and Jiraiya telling stories about his and Naruto's adventures with the toads.

Even Sasuke got into the swing of things, so to speak. He had a light smile for most of the night, the sight of an inebriated Naruto amusing him as the two of them bantered back and forth.

All in all it was a good night for everyone. All of the parents split the bill, saving Jiraiya's bank account and Hiashi's temper. After the festivities were over and everyone left for home, Sasuke approached Naruto.

"Thanks dobe," he said, only loud enough for Naruto to hear. "That was a good meal. I'll see you next week."

Naruto nodded and waved to Sasuke as the last Uchiha walked away from him and Jiraiya.

"Come on," said Jiraiya, putting an arm around Naruto. "Let's go sleep this off and hope the hangover isn't too debilitating."

"Alright Dad," said Naruto.

* * *

**Naruto is now a full-fledged Genin! What awaits him and his friends? Who will be his Jounin instructor? Who will be on his team? Only time will tell!**

_Another fun chapter to write. I hope what happened with Sasuke wasn't totally out of character. I just wanted him to come out of his shell a little. Don't think he and Naruto will lose their competitive rivalry though! My intention here is to make Naruto and Sasuke's bond a bit stronger than it was in the anime. Will it come crashing down the way it did? I'll let you read and find out._

_~BigHarlock~_


	7. Chapter 6: Team 7

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 6**

**Team 7**

The morning after the Genin and their families got together for their celebrations was not at all pleasant for Naruto. He had a wicked hangover from the sake he'd shared with his Dad and it was not what he wanted to deal with that day. Add that to having to go to the Academy for his ninja ID photo to be taken, and he could just taste the shitty day awaiting him along with the bile rising in the back of his throat.

After a breakfast of orange juice and some crackers he showered and got dressed, a mesh shirt and blue pants with the new robe Shizune had bought for him. He and Gamakichi left for the Academy a few minutes later, careful not to wake Jiraiya who was sleeping on the coffee table in front of the couch. They were already late, and Naruto was in a very sour mood. He walked into the classroom where the Hokage, Iruka and a photographer were waiting. There was a blue backdrop behind a wooden chair. The hokage and Iruka were at a table going through a list of names.

"You're late Naruto-kun," said the Hokage, not looking up from his papers.

"Sorry Hokage-jiji," said Naruto, flopping down in the chair and sighing. "Long night."

"Yes, I can tell," said the old leader. "I won't tell Tsunade, this time."

As soon as the picture was taken, Naruto got up to leave. Suddenly—

"_Konohamaru Assassination no Jutsu!" _screamed a very shrill voice as a small child bolted into the room and threw a kunai in any random direction. It happened to head straight for Naruto who swatted it away with his own kunai, and punched the kid in the face.

"Stop screaming you little shit!" he shouted, grabbing his head and moaning a second later.

"Thank you Naruto," said the Hokage. "I do believe you just prevented my assassination."

Naruto rolled his eyes as a Jounin in sunglasses and a bandanna ran in.

"Honorable grandson!" he screeched. Naruto kicked the Jounin in the shin. The Jounin shouted in pain and hopped around.

"I said stop screaming, Goddamn!" he shouted, grabbing his head again.

"Naruto!" hissed Iruka. "That's the Hokage's grandson and his tutor! Stop assaulting important people!"

"Oh, Sorry," said Naruto, helping the kid off of the floor. The child, who had brown hair, the oddest helmet Naruto had ever seen, a scarf and a yellow tee-shirt, tried to punch Naruto, but Naruto blocked it and pushed him back down. "I said stoppit!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" said Konohamaru, stamping his feet. Naruto croaked in irritation and looked at the Jounin.

"Sorry for kicking you," said Naruto. "I'm not feeling too hot and I can't stand loud noises right now."

"It's fine," said the Jounin Ebisu as he rubbed his knee. "Just remember when you are addressing… or assaulting I should say, a superior."

Naruto rolled his eyes and said goodbye to the Hokage, heading outside. Gamakichi poked his head out of the front of Naruto's robes. Apparently seeing Akamaru like that all the time just made the spot look appealing to him.

"You okay?" asked the toad. "You don't look so well."

Naruto nodded. He was fairly pale. Apparently alcohol just didn't agree with his system. He walked around town for a little while, trying to lose whoever it was tailing him. He knew someone was there, as they were rather noisy, cursed a bit and were hiding under a tarp while lying against a fence.

"Stop following me!" Naruto screamed, throwing a Kunai at the tarp, nailing it to the fence. "That's the wrong side of the tarp you moron!"

Konohamaru came out from under the tarp sputtering, realizing that the side he was using to cover himself was the side that had the flag of the Land of Fire on it, not the fence pattern. Konohamaru yanked the kunai out of the fence and turned to face Naruto, holding it in an awkward battle stance.

"If I beat someone strong like you," said Konohamaru, waving the kunai around. "I'll get to become Hokage!"

"I'm just a Genin," said Naruto, rubbing his temples. "And becoming Hokage doesn't just mean beating everyone you don't like."

"How do you become Hokage then smart guy?" sneered the seven year old. Naruto thought about it for a second.

"Well, my dad says the Hokage is chosen by the previous Hokage. He also has to be as skilled or close to as skilled as the previous Hokage. Not to mention he has to be a good leader and have a lot of experience in the field… wait why am I telling you this? Go away!"

Konohamaru threw the kunai at Naruto who jumped over it with his superior leg strength and punched Konohamaru in the face again.

"I said stop that you little piece of shit!"

"You can't just pick on me!" said Konohamaru. "I'm the Hokage's grandson!"

"That's a great story," said Naruto. "My dad is the Hokage's old student. You don't hear me bragging!"

"Woah!" said Konohamaru. "Your dad is Tsunade?"

Naruto was completely silent. Even Gamakichi was at a loss for words.

"You little idiot!" shouted Naruto, prepared to throttle the kid.

"Teach me!" said Konohamaru.

"What?"

"From this point on," said Konohamaru with an excited gleam in his eye. "You're my boss! Now teach me some cool jutsus!"

Naruto rubbed his eyes. He was hung-over and now a little kid had a man-crush on him.

"Come on," said Naruto, giving in for the sake of his headache. "I'll teach you my advanced Henge."

Konohamaru whooped, but Naruto covered his mouth.

"Shut up."

* * *

Naruto brought Konohamaru back to the apartment, where Jiraiya was up and about, sipping coffee and looking through his telescope.

"Hey Dad," said Naruto. "The Hokage's grandson is following me around so I'mma teach him the Sexy Jutsu."

"That's great," Jiraiya drawled, distracted by the sight of Sakura's mother in the hot springs. He grinned. That lady had a temper, he knew that from experiences. Fiery women were hot. He giggled at his terrible play on words.

"Alright," said Naruto, guiding Konohamaru into his bedroom. "First, have you ever seen a naked woman?"

Konohamaru shook his head rapidly.

"Alright," said Naruto. "We'll start from scratch."

He reached under his bed and pulled out his box of dirty magazines, tossing a few to Konohamaru.

"Study those for about an hour," said Naruto. "Try and memorize every detail of their bodies, curves, bone structure, and lack of certain… features."

"How come they don't have-?"

"Because shut up," said Naruto, setting Gamakichi into his box. "Now study."

With that, he left Konohamaru to it while he took a well needed nap.

* * *

"Naruto!" called Jiraiya from the front room. "Why is there a naked fat chick in our bathroom?"

Naruto rubbed his eyes and yawned, feeling much better. He got up and ran to see what all the fuss was about. He saw who he assumed was Konohamaru, checking himself out in the mirror. He'd changed into a very chunky woman.

"Did I do it good boss?" he asked, striking the most awkward pose Naruto or Jiraiya had ever seen.

"You're getting there," said Naruto. "I had trouble in the beginning too. You just need to visualize better when you mold your chakra. I didn't realize you already knew the Henge."

"Ebisu-sensei taught me," said Konohamaru, returning to normal. "He's a jerk, but at least he teaches me a couple things."

Naruto looked at his watch and saw that it was getting late. It was almost dinner time.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," said Naruto. He knew where the Sarutobi Compound was.

"I'll come too," said Jiraiya, tying on his forehead protector. "We'll grab some Ramen on the way back. I don't feel well enough to cook tonight."

The three of them headed out of the apartment and went to the Sarutobi compound. When they were halfway there, Ebisu leapt down from a building.

"There you are Honorable Grandson," said Ebisu. "Thank you for finding him Jiraiya-sama."

"Don't thank me," said Jiraiya. "He was hanging out with Naruto all day."

"Oh, it's you," said Ebisu coldly. "Come Honorable Grandson. I don't want you hanging around an undesirable like him."

"What the hell does that mean?" demanded Naruto, before Jiraiya could say anything. Jiraiya watched Naruto and figured he'd let the kid stand up for himself.

"I'm saying that a noble like the Honorable Grandson doesn't need a bad influence like you around. One who attacks people at random!"

Naruto crouched down and glared at Ebisu, a croaking noise emerging from his throat. Jiraiya rolled his eyes. Now he'd pissed Naruto off.

"Listen asshole," said Naruto. "I don't know what's so honorable about him. He's a brat with no manners, but as far as I'm concerned, he's a cooler guy then you are."

"Thanks Boss!" said Konohamaru proudly.

"Don't call him that!" snapped Ebisu.

"Or what?" demanded Naruto. "You'll cry to the Hokage?"

"You little!" growled Ebisu, crouching down to Naruto's level and getting in his face.

"Watcha gonna do about it?"

"Wait Boss!" said Konohamaru with a look of determination. "I'll defeat Ebisu-sensei and show him that you're the better teacher!"

"Huh?" both Naruto and Ebisu turned to Konohamaru.

"_Konohamaru Sexy Jutsu!"_

There was a big puff of smoke and Konohamaru was replaced with the most stunning woman any of them had ever seen. All three shinobis' jaws dropped as they looked over every curve of Konohamaru's incredible body, those firm breasts, that tight ass and those beautiful blue eyes under the cute shaggy mane of hair.

They all passed out on the spot.

"Oh crap!" screeched Konohamaru, returning to normal. "I killed the boss! I killed Ebisu-sensei! I killed Boss' dad!"

Konohamaru looked around and saw that the street was empty. He ran home so he wouldn't get in trouble for murdering three shinobi.

* * *

The three of them woke up the next morning in Tsunade's clinic being treated for blood loss. Apparently they experienced such massive nosebleeds that they almost died. Ebisu left without looking Jiraiya or Naruto in the eyes.

"What the hell happened?" asked Tsunade as Naruto and Jiraiya packed up to head home.

"Konohamaru Sarutobi happened," they both said, walking out without another word.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Jiraiya clamped a hand down on Naruto's shoulder.

"That was a brilliant technique," said Jiraiya sagely. "You have found a talented disciple, Naruto-sensei."

Naruto chuckled.

"Thank's Ero-sensei," he said jokingly. "Do I still get ramen?"

"Better," said Jiraiya. "I'll get you some ramen, and then we are going to practice some elemental manipulation with that sword of yours. You should also work on using Shadow clones in combat."

"That'll take forever," said Naruto. "I have to meet my new team in half a week!"

"That's why I taught you the Shadow clone you dunce," said Jiraiya. "Come on, I'll teach you how to train with clones. It's a little thing called collective memory."

* * *

When Naruto arrived at the Academy for team assignments, he was wearing his new green and blue robes, washed and pressed by Shizune for him. His chakra sword was tied to his waist along his lower back so when he drew it he would use it in a reverse grip.

Jiraiya had gotten permission to take Naruto back to Myoboku for the week so Gamahiro could teach him the basics of kenjutsu. He had ten shadow clones work with Gamahiro while ten worked with Jiraiya on wind chakra manipulation. While Naruto had the capacity to make a small army, he needed to get used to the mental feedback from the clones. When he got home he was a fairly competent with the sword, and his chakra manipulation was becoming much more effective. The practice with multiple clones also assisted in his overall chakra control quite a bit.

Working with Gamahiro was interesting to say the least. He taught Naruto how to hold a sword and how to use it effectively in battle, and had clones spar against each other. Naruto was quickly on his way to learning Toad Style kenjutsu, which would work in tandem with his Toad taijutsu. He liked to refer to the combined art as "Crouching Lily". Jiraiya thought it sounded gay, but what did he know? Ma liked it.

"_Don't you remembah?_ _We built this village,_" he and Gamakichi sang together as he walked into the classroom. Gamakichi was once again perched on his head. _"We built this village on ramen and dangoooo, we built this village!"_

"Shut up Naruto," said Iruka, looking over the team selections. "Take a seat and I'll call in the Jounin instructors."

Naruto hopped onto the seat next to Kiba as usual and crouched, taking out his class notes for one last time. With the estimations he'd made, and assistance from Jiraiya, he considered Hinata to have the highest chance of being the most fully developed woman in his class. The stereotypes were all there. Quiet, nervous, fainting tendencies and a constant blush. She was going to have a hell of a rack, and he had two thousand Ryo's riding on it in a bet with Jiraiya.

"Alright you guys," said Iruka as a bunch of Jounin piled in. "You will now be assigned your new senseis. You guys' teams are numbered by classroom, so in here we've got Teams Seven, Eight, and Ten."

"Who's Team Nine?" asked Sakura, her chin resting in her hand.

"They were a class from last year. They're still Genin together so they got to keep their numbers. So, let's get this done. Team Eight, with Kurenai Yuhi, is Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuuga."

The three Genin walked down to meet their sensei, a stunningly beautiful woman with messy black hair, red eyes and an odd dress that looked like giant bandages covered in seals.

"Team Ten, with Asuma Sarutobi is Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akamichi."

They met with their sensei, who Naruto recognized as the Hokage's son. He had a thick chinstrap beard with a goatee and was smoking a cigarette. He was wearing the standard shinobi uniform for the village, though he also wore an odd sash under his belt.

"Team Seven, with Kakashi Hatake is Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha."

"YES!" cheered Sakura. Naruto nodded, accepting his team. Sakura was fun and had a fiery temper that he considered a bit sexy, when she wasn't hitting him. Sasuke needed some work, but he felt that he could work with Sasuke if they both really tried.

"Where's our sensei?" asked Sasuke.

"It looks like he hasn't arrived yet," said Iruka, looking around. "I need to go speak with the Hokage, you guys just stick around until Kakashi gets here."

The three Genin nodded and decided to sit together. Naruto chatted idly with Sakura about how exciting it was to finally be on a real ninja team. Sasuke was mostly silent but nodded when he agreed with something.

After three hours, the novelty began to wear off. Naruto fell asleep at some point and Sakura was trying to strike up conversation with Sasuke, but he wasn't feeling very talkative.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps. Naruto snapped to attention and shook the sleep out of his system, croaking irritably as the grey haired shinobi with the face mask and covered eye walked into the room.

"Hello class," said Kakashi with a cool tone of voice. "I'm your new sensei. Treat me well."

"It's about time," shouted Sakura. "What the hell took you so long?"

"I got lost on the road of life," said Kakashi. They didn't buy it. "So I'm stuck with you guys eh? Meet me on the roof in ten minutes."

Then he Body Flickered away, leaving them to walk. When they got there, he was crouching on the top of the fence around the roof, reading a copy of _Icha Icha Paradise._

"You know that's gonna be a movie soon?" said Naruto, getting Kakashi's attention.

"Really?" said Kakashi, leaning forward.

"Yeah. They're doing the screenplay, and they want Yukie Fujikaze as the female lead. I think she'd be perfect."

"So, Jiraiya-sama lets you in on his writing?" asked Kakashi.

"Are you kidding? That book is based off of my own research!"

Kakashi smiled, his eye turning upwards.

"Well, we'll have to see the movie together then, won't we?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura sat down in front of Kakashi.

"Why did you want us to meet here?" asked Sasuke.

"Good question," said Kakashi. "I want us to get to know each other a bit. My first impression… I like you guys."

That got a smile out of the Genin.

"Now, tell me your likes and dislikes," he said with an eye smile. "Your dreams for the future and your hobbies."

"Why don't you tell us first," said Naruto. "You look a little suspicious."

"Yeah, with your face all covered up," said Sakura.

"Oh, me?" said Kakashi. "Well, let's see… I have no real desire to tell you my likes and dislikes. My dreams for the furute… hmm… that's a good question. And I have lots of hobbies."

"He only told us his name," said Sakura icily.

"Your turn," said Kakashi. "Let's start with you on the right."

"Me?" said Naruto. "Well, I like Ramen and training with Dad. And I like toads. I dislike the taste of bugs."

"No taste!" piped up Gamakichi from atop his head.

"My dream is to become strong enough to protect the people I care about," he said with a grin. "Maybe even become the Hokage!"

"_Interesting," _Kakashi thought to himself.

"My hobbies are research and training!" he said with a wide smile and a thumb up. Kakashi shuddered from the memories of that pose.

"Next," said the scarecrow sensei.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," said Sasuke. "I don't really like anything, and I dislike a lot of things. My dream… well more of an ambition is to resurrect my clan and kill a certain man."

"_So cool,"_ thought Sakura.

"You'd better not mean me," said Naruto.

"Shut up," said Sasuke with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," said the violent Pinkette. "I like…" She blushed and looked at Sasuke. "Well the person I like…" Her blush darkened. "My plans for the future…" She blushed even darker.

"Oh and I dislike Naruto's pervy dad!"

Naruto busted up laughing.

"Well, now that that's out of the way," said Kakashi, Sakura's information unsettling him a bit. "Do you have any questions?"

"Now that you're our sensei," said Naruto. "What are our duties?"

"Ah," said Kakashi, covering his eye. "About that."

"What?" asked Sakura uneasily. Sasuke just stared at his sensei.

"Tomorrow, we're going to have an activity with just the four of us," he said, getting the three of them to lean foreward. "Survival training."

"Sounds like fun!" said Naruto.

"But didn't we learn enough in the Academy?"

"This isn't normal training," said Kakashi. "I'm going to be your opponent.

"What do you mean?" asked Naruto, looking up at Gamakichi questioningly. The toad shrugged.

"Well the funny thing is," said Kakashi. "Of the twenty seven Genin that graduated from the Academy, only nine are going to go on to be actual Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy and this training has a sixty-six percent failure rate."

The Genin all looked at each other and gulped nervously, which made Kakashi laugh.

"I knew you guys would freak out," he said with his eye smile.

"So what are we supposed to do?" asked Naruto, agitation showing all over him, bouncing on his toes and wringing his hands. "Did we come this way all for nothing?"

"Of course not," said Kakashi. "The exam was just to see who had what it took to take this next test."

Naruto sighed and nodded. That made him feel a little better, but he couldn't say the same for Sakura, and with Sasuke he couldn't tell.

"Tomorrow you will be showing your true skills on the battlefield," said Kakashi, passing out papers. "Bring all of your tools and don't eat breakfast because you'll just end up throwing up. See you at six AM."

* * *

When Jiraiya got home that night from some intelligence gathering, he swiftly dodged a kick in the head and blocked a punch. He punched his attacker in the stomach, but the enemy vanished in a puff of smoke. Two more ninja's appeared in front of him and he quickly dispelled them with swift kicks, then taking out another behind him. Then something landed on his shoulders and he felt a blade press against his neck.

"Good job Naruto," he said, flicking on the lights. "If I were a low level Chunin I would have been toast."

Naruto didn't take the compliment and punched Jiraiya in the top of the head.

"Ow! Fucking brat!" shouted the Toad Sage, dispelling the clone on his shoulders, seeing the real Naruto sitting cross legged on the couch.

"You didn't tell me there was another test!" shouted Naruto indignantly.

"Me either!" shouted Gamakichi from the coffee table.

"Shut up Gamakichi," they both said.

"I'm not allowed to tell you about that test," said Jiraiya. "It's against the rules."

"I got Kakashi as my sensei. How fucked am I?" asked Naruto.

"Kakashi eh?" said Jiraiya. "His test is so hardcore that no Genin team before has beaten it. Naruto gulped.

"Don't eat breakfast," said Jiraiya. "But you should pack a lunch. And put it in a sealing scroll."

Naruto thought about that momentarily before getting an idea and summoning Shima.

"Oh, hello Naruto-boy," she said with a happy smile. "What can I do for you?"

"Hey Ma," said Naruto. "Can you make me the best possible bento lunch you can? I need it for tomorrow!"

Shima thought about it and smiled.

"Of course Naruto-boy. Let's go to the market. But first, let's con some coin from Jiraiya-boy."

* * *

Team Seven arrived at the designated training field at 6am, like they were supposed to, but Kakashi was nowhere to be seen. Naruto layed against a wooden post and went to sleep, telling Sakura to wake him when Kakashi got there. The Jounin in question didn't arrive until three hours later.

They were in Training Ground Three. There was a view of mountains in the landscape and a large and deep river with forests on both sides of it. There was a glade and in its centre were three stumps lined side by side. Below there was a memorial of some kind with a polished kunai-shaped structure on top.

Sakura kicked Naruto in the leg until he was awake.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto, yawning and stretching. "Lost on the road of life again?"

"Nah," said Kakashi, setting a clock on a tree stump and pressing the mechanism on top. "There, it's set for noon."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two small bells.

"See these bells? You have until noon to get them from me or you fail. Whoever doesn't get a bell by noon gets no lunch."

"_Dad was right!"_ thought Naruto, his hand going to a pouch he kept underneath his robes. Under his robes is where he kept his ninja equipment like kunai, shuriken and sealing scrolls. He also kept some ninja wire handy for traps.

"I won't only tie you to one of those stumps over there, but I'll also eat right in front of you. Use any weapons you see fit, because you need to be coming at me with the intent to kill. There are only two bells, so one of you will definitely fail this test."

"But won't you be in danger?" asked Sakura.

Naruto reached into his Kunai pouch in an instant and prepared to throw it at Kakashi, but before he could blink, the Jounin was gone. He then felt a hand grab his wrist and point his own kunai at the back of his neck, his other hand pressing the back of his head forward to keep him from moving.

"I didn't say start," said Kakashi. "But it's good you know what killing intent means."

He released Naruto and snapped his fingers.

"Go," he said, and they darted off in different directions, hiding in the trees.

"_I didn't even see him move,"_ Sakura thought to herself from under a bush.

"_So that's a Jounin," _thought Sasuke.

"So, they know that hiding is the most important part of being a shinobi," thought Kakashi. "They've hidden well…"

"Hey asshole!" shouted Naruto from on top of a stump.

"I spoke too soon," said Kakashi, turning to face his pint sized opponent.

"_**IDIOT!"**_ roared Sakura and Sasuke in their minds.

* * *

**Will Naruto, Sasuke, or Sakura fail this test? Or will Naruto's training on Myoboku from the last week bear any fruit? What kind of Lunch did Ma pack? Only Time will tell!**

_I loved writing the bits with Konohamaru. You probably noticed that the events with Kakashi were mostly true to canon. I will of course be taking heavy liberties with the test itself._

_Until next time_

_Which will probably be tomorrow afternoon at the rate I've been writing this fic_

_~BigHarlock~_


	8. Chapter 7: The Bell Test

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 7**

**The Bell Test**

Naruto was squatting on the wooden stump, not making a move. He and Kakashi stared at each other for some time before Naruto made the first move. He threw two shuriken and charged at Kakashi, running low to the ground before leaping over the masked Jounin.

The shuriken were easily avoided by Kakashi, and he expected Naruto to charge him head on as he was, but was surprised when Naruto leapt over him, doing a front flip. He was approaching the ground upside down and running through hand seals.

"_Fuuton: Diatoppa!" _he yelled, blowing a large gust of wind from his lips. He put more chakra into it than Kakashi expected and the Jounin had to stand his ground against the wind.

"_His chakra is amazing,"_ thought Kakashi. _"But he's still too slow."_

Kakashi stood up straight when the wind stopped and Naruto landed on one hand, crossing his legs in the upside down position.

"You won't fight back?" asked Naruto.

"I have no reason to," said Kakashi. "You aren't anywhere close to my level."

"We'll see," said Naruto, flipping forward and charging for a taijutsu battle.

"Taijutsu eh?" said Kakashi. "I'll teach you a few things."

Kakashi blocked the first kick with minimal effort and started sidestepping the blonde's attacks. He blocked several more kicks with the metal plates on his gloves. Naruto was pretty good. He had great leg strength and was a very competent fighter. Jiraiya was a good teacher.

Naruto leapt up for an axe kick, which Kakashi caught and tossed him away. Naruto caught himself and started doing hand signs again.

"This is boring," said Kakashi, appearing behind Naruto, crouching low and doing the tiger seal.

"No way," whispered Sasuke from his hiding spot in the trees. "He's going to do a fire jutsu? Naruto's gonna die!"

Sakrua leapt up from her spot to scream at Naruto to avoid the attack, but a hand clasped over her mouth and dragged her into the bushes.

"_Konohagakure Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique!"_ shouted Kakashi, shoving his fingers into Naruto's rear end. _"1000 Years of Pain!"_

Naruto's eyes bugged out of his head and he was sent flying into the air screaming in discomfort.

"What the fuck was that?" whispered Sasuke. Then both he and Kakashi went wide eyed when Naruto became nothing more than a puff of smoke. There was no log, so it wasn't a replacement, and if it was a Bunshin, the attack would have passed right through. "What the fuck was _that?_"

Suddenly, about twenty Narutos came charging out of the trees, running at Kakashi with the obvious intent to do him some harm. Kakashi's eye became serious and he reached into his pocket, pulling out his book, _Icha Icha Paradise_. He opened it to the latest page and began reading. When the first Naruto got to him, his free hand shot out and punched it, dispelling the clone, his eye never leaving the page.

One after another, Naruto after Naruto was defeated in one blow as Kakashi blocked, countered and struck each one. Naruto's Crouching Lily was good, but not Kakashi good apparently. Kakashi ducked under two fuuma shuriken as they sped at him. More and More Naruto's poured out of the trees, but after twelve of them were defeated, they stopped and merely stared at Kakashi.

"So," said the Jounin. "Giving up yet?"

"Nah," said one of the Narutos, all of them crouching to the ground and staring at their sensei. "Just biding my time."

"May I ask why?"

"I'd prefer it if you didn't."

"Suit yourself."

Then Kakashi leapt into action, going on the offensive as the Naruto clones went into full defensive retreat. He still didn't look up from his book.

* * *

Sasuke was watching the fight with fascination, and jumped when someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and saw Naruto and Sakura there looking at him.

"What the fuck is going on?" the Uchiha demanded.

"That's the shadow clone technique, remember?" said Naruto. "I used it in the Genin exams!"

Sasuke remembered the prank Naruto had pulled on the senseis and nodded.

"So what are you doing here?"

"I brought lunch," said Naruto. "I think we all know by now that he tricked us into not eating so we would be tired for the test, so I had my Ma make us the tastiest and most filling stuff she could."

He passed them both a bento box and opened his own. It was an assortment of sugar coated goodies in Naruto's to keep his energy up while the Shadow clones fought for them. Sasuke's had some sweets in there, as well as a large helping of sushi and onigiri. Knowing Sakura was on a diet according to Naruto, Sakura's was filled with an assortment of fruits and vegetables.

"I'm okay," said Sasuke, pushing away the box. "I don't need your handouts."

"Come on teme," croaked Naruto. "We need to keep our strength up."

"I'll be fine on my own."

"That's not what this is about," said Naruto, Sasuke's indifference getting on his nerves. The memories of his clones being crushed so badly with each passing moment was just stressing him out more.

"If we eat, then we'll be able to fight better," he said, shoving the box at Sasuke. "I don't care about getting the bell! It's all a trick!"

Sasuke shot him a suspicious look.

"A trick? What do you mean?"

"I mean, he wants us to fight amongst ourselves and work separately. If we just go in by ourselves the whole time and don't work together, we're gonna fail!"

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a good minute and a half before opening his box and separating the chopsticks inside.

"Thank you Naruto," said Sakura. "But how did you know he tricked us? How did you know to bring us lunch?"

"I did some intel gathering," said Naruto with a grin.

"What do you mean?" asked Sasuke as he dug into his food reluctantly. He hadn't realized how famished he was from the lack of breakfast.

* * *

**The Night Before**

"So Naruto-boy," said Shima. "Why do you need me to make you lunch all of a sudden?"

Naruto and Shima were running through the market, the Toad on his shoulder as they ran around grabbing ingredients.

"I'm taking a test with my new team tomorrow," he said. "The Jounin said not to eat breakfast because we'll throw up, but if I have something to eat in the field, I might be more prepared."

"Ah," said Shima. "The bell test!"

"What?" asked Naruto, turning to Shima.

"It's an old Konoha tradition," she said absentmindedly, hopping off of his shoulder to browse the vegetables. "They don't let you eat so you go hungry during the test. It makes everybody moody so they are less likely to work together, not because the test is too –"

She clamped her mouth shut when she realized that she'd just let the cat out of the bag. Naruto gaped at her with a loose jaw and a look of shock on his face as he just figured out what no Genin had in the history of Konoha.

"Hey Ma," he said. "If you make two more bentos, another tasty one and one with good stuff like fruits and veggies, I won't tell anyone that you broke the rules!"

Shima stared at him and nodded, already ashamed for being such a blabbermouth.

"Alright," he said. "I'll meet you back at the house Ma!"

And with that he ran off.

A few minutes later, Iruka Umino was awoken from his wonderful nap by banging on his door. He opened it to find Naruto staring up at him.

"Oh hey Naruto," he said, yawning. "What's up?"

"What's the bell test?" demanded Naruto.

"What?" hissed Iruka. Naruto grabbed his shirt collar and forced Iruka down to his level.

"I need information, and you're going to give it to me!"

"What has gotten into you?" demanded the teacher.

"We'll call it a craving for knowledge," said another Naruto as Iruka realized he was surrounded by shadow clones who were pointing swords at his neck. Iruka rolled his eyes.

"What do you want to know?"

* * *

"Wait, so the whole thing is for us to work together?" said Sasuke. The stuff Naruto had been preaching to him before seemed to have some merit after all.

"I can't believe this," said Sakura through a mouthful of grapes. "So what do we do?"

"I've got ten more clones out there trying to fight Kakashi sensei," said Naruto.

"I have a plan then," said Sasuke, leaning close to them. "Naruto, you said that oil is flammable?"

"Yup," Naruto said.

"Good. Let's get to work then."

* * *

Kakashi finished off another clone, and another, until there were only eight left in front of him. He was about to move in again when he felt one latch onto him and slap a paper tag onto his chest.

"An explosive tag?" gasped Kakashi, peeling off the tag quickly and doing a Kawarimi Jutsu with one of the Naruto clones. He jumped into a tree and waited, but no explosion came. "I can't believe they fooled me with a simple piece of paper. He even managed to sneak up on me. This Naruto kid is dangerous, but I've yet to see either of the others.

He suddenly heard a noise and turned around to see both Naruto and Sasuke jump out of the bushes running through hand signs at the same time.

"_Toad Oil Bullet!" _shouted Naruto, spitting the thick substance at Kakashi.

"_Katon: __Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" _shouted Sasuke, spitting a moderately sized fireball at the glob of oil. Kakashi leapt out of the way as the jutsu's collided, creating a massive flaming explosion that he just barely avoided.

"I think they pass," said Kakashi with a look of surprise in his eye. "But where is Sakura?"

Naruto and Sasuke landed, throwing shuriken and kunai at Kakashi. Kakashi avoided it and ran at them, knowing that just telling them to stop wouldn't end it. They would likely perceive it as a trick and fight harder. He needed to defeat them.

He was surprised when they grinned and leapt back into the trees. Kakashi burst into the forest, but Naruto and Sasuke were waiting along with the remaining Naruto clones. The clones blocked his path, but he killed them swiftly, not seeing Naruto and Sasuke running past him with a wire in their hands. The wire caught on Kakashi's ankle, making him stumble forward. He then drove himself to a stop when a large log came swinging down at him. He leapt over it and ran across it, only to be met with a very determined looking Sasuke.

Sasuke slashed at him with a Kunai, Kakashi pulling out his own and stowing away his book as he began to duel the last Uchiha atop the swinging log. They clashed Kunai repeatedly, blocking and dodging blows. Kakashi had to admit, Sasuke was talented. His feints were solid, and so was his footwork. He performed a leg sweep which sent Sasuke tumbling off of the log, but as soon as he stood back up he had to block a blow from Naruto.

Naruto stood upon the log, his footing more steady than Sasuke's was. Kakashi could tell that he was gripping the log with chakra. Naruto unsheathed his chakra sword in a reverse grip and took his crouched stance.

"You can't defeat me with a simple sword," said Kakashi.

"There's nothing simple about it!" Naruto shouted, coating the blade in wind chakra. Kakashi's eye widened further. This kid was full of surprises. Kakashi had fought Asuma Sarutobi and plenty of wind users before, and he knew that if he got hit, or tried to block, that was it. Naruto began slashing methodically at Kakashi, the Jounin instructor bobbing and weaving along the surface of the log. When one slash got too close for comfort he slid under the log and hung upside down. He was unsurprised when Naruto did the exact same thing and still came at him, and it became an upside down battle. Kakashi took a step back from one sword slice and ducked as two clones with their own chakra covered swords came at him from both sides.

He dropped off of the log and landed in a crouching position, surrounded by three Narutos.

They began attacking and Kakashi simply ducked and weaved around them, not fighting back at all. Kakashi then jumped over two leg sweeps and shot his legs out to both sides, finishing the clones easily.

Kakashi landed and felt a wire wrap around his feet. Sasuke had appeared and used a kunai as a weight to sling the wire around his legs. Sasuke yanked the wire and it caused Kakashi's legs to slam closed. He maintained perfect balance however.

Kakashi ducked under a sword slash and used his kunai to cut the wire. Bad idea as it triggered a mechanism to send two more logs hurtling towards him, aiming to crush him. He shot his palms out on either side and grunted, catching the logs. It hurt like hell, but he was relatively unharmed.

"What the hell are you?" panted Naruto, the chakra on his sword dimming to nothing.

"A Jounin," said Kakashi, running forward and planting the toes of his sandal in Naruto's face, sending him flying into a tree.

Sasuke jumped out of the trees and Kakashi punched him in the stomach when he came down to stab the masked Jounin. Sasuke tumbled to the ground and staggered to his feet.

Kakashi looked around and spotted a flash of pink. He'd caught Sakura red handed as she tried to arm another trap for him. He lunged at her.

"I've got you!" he roared.

He grabbed her by the throat and spun around, holding her in a choke hold and pushing a kunai into her neck. It was time for the next lesson.

Naruto and Sasuke stopped abruptly, staring at Kakashi with wide eyes.

"You couldn't just give up, could you?" he said harshly. He pressed the kunai harder into her neck and she whimpered in pain. "You had to drag this out."

"Kakashi-sensei," choked Naruto. "Don't do it!"

He dug his kunai into her neck a bit further.

"It's going to take a lot more than that to get me to—"

"I'll tell you who Ricardo's true identity is if you go any further," growled Naruto. Kakashi stopped.

"You wouldn't dare."

"I would. I helped write that _Icha Icha Paradise_ you have in your pocket there. I'll spoil the ending if you harm her anymore!"

Kakashi stared at the blonde for a few seconds before setting Sakura on the ground. He looked in between the three with a critical eye for several moments before he nodded.

"You pass."

* * *

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke sat in front of the memorial statue with Kakashi, who was standing in front of it.

"You guys surprised me today," he said. "Naruto, you went behind everyone's back to find out what was really going on because of a subtle hint left to you. Any other Genin probably wouldn't have picked up that Jiraiya was telling you the no breakfast rule was bull and just packed a lunch for after the test. You knew you couldn't take my orders at face value and, while you ended up finding out about my ruse on accident, you were preparing for a worst case scenario. That shows that you know that information is vital and if you just follow orders blindly it could get you killed. You also used your communication skills very effectively to get the team to act as a group rather than individuals. Good work.

Sasuke, you had a reputation in the Academy for shunning others and refusing to accept any help. You were a loner the whole time and you were ready to face the ninja world on your own, rejecting any team members for your own goals. But you saw that working with Naruto and Sakura was the only way to finish this test, and put aside your pride for a few hours to get through it together. Your planning skills in the heat of the moment really came through and you coordinated the team like an expert. Keep that up and I see a squad of your own in the future.

Sakura, your behind the scenes action today was very smart and your participation as a support member of the team was invaluable. You had a reputation in the Academy for thinking of boys over your career. You were easily distracted and hard to get along with. But you showed me today that you are a good team player when you want to be, and a supportive team member is better than a useless one. I think you would do well as a genjutsu user or a medical-nin, whichever you are more suited to, rather than a direct combatant."

"You didn't even set off all of my traps," Sakura pouted. Kakashi laughed and scratched the back of his head.

"I have some ideas on things that you guys need to work on individually, and we'll get to that another time, but for now, you guys make a good team, and that's the only thing that matters today."

The Genin smiled at the praise. Kakashi nodded and turned to look at the monument.

"You guys see this monument?" he asked.

"What is it Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"It's a monument to the heroes of this village," he said. "Heroes that died for our village. My best friend's name is carved onto here."

The three Genin listened to their sensei quietly as he continued.

"I had to learn this lesson the hard way," he said. "Those who don't follow the rules are trash."

Naruto frowned at that.

"But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. You guys are now Genin of the leaf. I'm proud to call you my students."

Naruto grinned broadly and punched Sasuke in the shoulder. Sasuke rolled his eyes and smiled slightly. Sakura began to cry into her dress, the moment finally getting to her.

"Starting tomorrow," said Kakashi. "We'll begin our duties as Konoha ninja. Let's go eat."

"Can we get ramen at Ichiraku's?" asked Naruto happily.

"Sure," said Kakashi. "It's on me this time."

With that, they walked into town, Naruto whooping and hollering for a bit before he stopped cold.

"Oh shit!" he shouted.

"What?" asked Kakashi.

"I left Iruka-sensei tied to a fucking chair!"

* * *

After they had dinner together, Team Seven said their goodbyes and parted ways. Naruto was on his way home when he was stopped by Sasuke.

"Dobe," said Sasuke, coming up behind his teammate.

"What's up?" said Naruto, turning to face him.

"You were right," said Sasuke. "So thanks."

"No problem," said Naruto, waving it off.

"But, I think I should tell you, and I'll tell Sakura later but…" Sasuke paused and looked up into the sky.

"What is it?"

"There's a man," said Sasuke, looking over at Naruto darkly. "A man I need to kill. If I ever want to revive my clan, that man must die."

Naruto nodded slowly, absorbing the information. Sasuke was very determined.

"I need you to help me get stronger," said Sasuke. "So that one day, I can kill that man, and bring glory to my clan."

Naruto was quiet for a moment before nodding.

"I don't know why that guy needs to die," said Naruto. "But it's none of my business right now. I'll help you get stronger Sasuke. But I can't promise you revenge. I won't help you there."

Sasuke nodded and turned around, walking away.

"That's all I need from you Naruto," he said, while he remained in earshot. "Our team is just a means to an end for me. Just don't get in my way."

Naruto said nothing as he turned around and headed home.

* * *

When Naruto got home, he was by himself. Jiraiya was out on a mission for the village, and Naruto was on his own for the week. He was surprised to see Fukasaku waiting for him, watching a movie on their little television and eating a bowl of crickets with Gamakichi.

"Hello Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "You're still wearing that headband so I assume you passed."

"Yup," said Naruto happily, flopping down on the couch. "What brings you're here Pa?"

"Well I was watching this fascinating movie about samurai with light swords in space. The one in the helmet with the breathing problem is quite imposing. Anyway, since your father knew you would pass, he wanted me to teach you some new jutsus."

"Really?" said Naruto with a grin of interest on his face. "What kind?"

"Well Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku, pausing the movie and turning to face him. "Like you, I am also a wind release user, and I happen to know quite a few jutsus. I also use water release, so I want to teach you that affinity as well."

"Awesome!" said Naruto. "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "When do you have to meet your team tomorrow?"

"Not until ten in the morning," said Naruto. "We're meeting at the Hokage Tower for our first mission."

"Good, then we will go early and start on your training. For now, let's have dinner and finish this movie, I'm quite taken with it."

* * *

Naruto and Fukasaku were up before the sun, eating an early breakfast and jogging to the training grounds. Fukasaku had Naruto split into twenty clones and practice two wind techniques, the Futon: Kami Oroshi, or the Godly Wind from the Mountains, a huge vortex of wind blasted from Naruto's mouth and palms that could tear the bark off of trees when he got it right, and the Wind Cutter, which created a blade of wind from his hand that could cut through solid steel if done correctly.

The clones practiced for hours, often wearing themselves out and dispelling, and Naruto himself had to create more. The real Naruto sat next to Fukasaku and Gamakichi in front of the monument and meditated.

Fukasaku called off the clones at seven in the morning and had Naruto dispel the clones one at a time to reduce any mental fatigue. Then he had Naruto try them out himself against a tree in the woods. Naruto went through the hand signs and it seemed that his clone training paid off, as his vortex and blade were strong, but not perfected. That would take a few more days.

Next, Fukasaku summoned three toads, about Gama's size, with an assortment of weapons strapped to their backs. One was red, another was green and the last was orange, and they all had blue underbellies and faces.

"Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "These are Haashin, Nikibi and Itami. They are known on Mount Myoboku as the Tatakai no Hikigaeru. They will be your kenjutsu sparing partners."

"I made that sword you know," said Haashin in a gruff croak. "Fine work I might add."

"You liar," said Itami, a female toad, pulling out her sword. "We made that together!"

"And I helped," said Nikibi with a dumb smile.

Naruto laughed at their argument and thanked them for their hard work.

"No worries," said Haashin, blocking a slash from Itami. "You can summon us any time for battle."

"Thanks!" said Naruto, pulling out his sword. "So, we gonna spar?"

"You aren't Naruto-boy," said Fukasaku. "Make three clones and have them spar. You shall continue to meditate with me."

"Fine," whined Naruto, making three clones and sitting with Fukasaku.

The toads showed the clones a bit more on proper sword work and gave them each a one on one lesson on different ways to deal with different opponents. The spars were simple enough, Naruto would attack, they would block, and they would go on a return offensive, expecting him to block. If they broke through his defense and could have killed the clone, they merely tapped it and told it what it did wrong.

This went on for another two hours, and at nine, Fukusaku dismissed the Tatakai no Hikigaeru.

"Good work today," said Fukasaku, pulling out two boxes containing a light snack for the both of them. Naruto enjoyed some apple slices while Fukasaku munched on some fried caterpillars. "I think you should have those jutsus as well as the water jutsu I'll be teaching you down by the day after tomorrow."

Naruto nodded and looked at the time.

"Alright Pa," said Naruto, getting up and brushing himself off. "I need to get home, take a quick shower and meet up with my team."

"Good idea," said Fukasaku. "I will wait for you at the apartment."

"Wanna come on my first mission with me Gamakichi?" asked Naruto excitedly.

"Hell yeah!" said the little toad. Naruto grabbed Gamakichi and ran home as fast as his legs could carry him, leaving Fukasaku staring after the dust cloud with a frown.

"So impatient," said the Sage as he went back to his snack.

* * *

When Naruto got home that day he was covered in scratches and bite marks. Gamakichi was clinging to his hair and applying adhesive bandages to his partner's face.

"My first mission sucked!" shouted Naruto, making Fukasaku jump from his spot on the couch.

"Naruto-boy! I'm trying to watch this—oh, what happened?"

"The Daimyo was visiting the village," said Naruto, dragging his feet to the couch.. "And his wife's cat got loose. Again. My mission was to catch it."

"I thought you'd fought a Biju," said Fukasaku, going to get a first aid kit.

"Cat's suck," said Naruto, flopping down while Fukasaku dabbed at his cuts with alcohol and a cotton ball.

"Yes, I know," said Fukasaku. "You should be healed in a few moments. Your injuries always seem to recover far faster than other children's."

"Why is that Pa?" asked Naruto, glancing at the toad, who stuttered before coming up with an excuse.

"It runs in the family," he said. "Jiraiya-boy recovered quickly in his youth as well."

It was a blatant lie, but Naruto bought it.

"That makes sense," said Naruto. Fukasaku sighed.

"Tomorrow we will do a bit more training, and then you can be on your way to do more missions."

"I hope all the missions aren't like that."

Unfortunately they were. Over the next month, Naruto and his team got nothing but missions that equated to either household chores or running errands. At one point they had to help rebuild a part of the Akamichi compound that was destroyed when two of the clansmen got in a fight over a fried dumpling at dinner. Naruto wasn't allowed to use his clones because Kakashi said this was a team building exercise.

Other missions included walking the Inuzuka clan's dogs, which seemed to despise Naruto for some reason. He got bitten quite a bit. One old lady needed her carpets replaced with hard wood flooring because her cats were not box trained. The house smelled of mold, piss and death. Sakura refused to step foot inside there so Naruto and Sasuke removed the carpet. When they hauled out giant rolls of the moldy disgusting carpet they saw her sitting outside doing her makeup. Naruto dumped his carpet on her head, top side down. She smelled for days, and the lumps on his head didn't recede for a week.

Jiraiya got home a few days late and made up for it by assisting in Naruto's training with Fukasaku. He gave Naruto tips and showed him the proper breathing techniques for wind jutsus, which in turn boosted his overall power.

When he saw that Naruto's taijutsu and kenjutsu had increased dramatically, he bought Naruto some leg weights, which slowed him down, but would overall increase his power. A month later, Jiraiya decided to teach him fuuinjutsu.

"What's fuuinjutsu?" asked Naruto. He and his father were in their apartment, sitting across from each other at the kitchen table. Jiraiya leaned forward and showed Naruto a sealing scroll.

"Fuuinjutsu is the art of sealing," said Jiraiya. "It's been passed down for generations, and your namesake, Uzumaki, makes you the ideal candidate for sealing mastery."

"My namesake?" asked Naruto. Jiraiya leaned back.

He didn't want to tell Naruto that he was adopted yet. He knew he should, now that Naruto was nearing that age, but when he tried, he couldn't do it. Jiraiya was planning on telling him now, and he tried. He really did. But he didn't have the heart for it.

"_I'm sorry Minato,"_ thought Jiraiya. _"But he's my son. I don't want to lose him."_

"Your mother was a member of the great clan Uzumaki," said Jiraiya, cringing internally for what he was about to do. "And she taught me her clan secrets."

"My mom?" asked Naruto, his eyes going wide.

"Of course," said Jiraiya. "Did you think you came from a toad?"

"I was suspicious," said Naruto.

"Idiot," said Jiraiya, rolling his eyes. "Anyway, the clan is extinct now, it was wiped out in the Second Shinobi War. The swirl pattern you see on Konoha uniforms is the Uzumaki clan symbol. They were a great ally to Konoha, and had their own village. Hidden Whirlpool. Your mom, and the First Hokage's wife were the only surviving members. Now you are the only survivor of that clan."

Naruto nodded.

"What was my mom like?" he asked a bit quietly. Jiraiya sighed and scratched his chin.

"She was a lot like you kid," said Jiraiya. "A hell of a temper, prone to shouting when anything annoyed her. Long red hair, quite beautiful. You have her face."

Jiraiya went into his room and reached into his dresser with a photo album in it. He looked through it until he found a picture of Kushina and Tsunade standing in front of the hospital. Kushina was pregnant in the picture.

"This is her," he said with a sad smile.

"She was really pretty," said Naruto, grinning up at Jiraiya.

"Yeah, she was," said Jiraiya, handing it to him. "You keep that Naruto."

"Thanks Dad," said Naruto, gazing down at the picture with a sad smile of his own. "So what are you going to teach me about sealing?"

"For now," said Jiraiya, clearing his throat. "I'm gonna teach you how to make explosive tags and sealing scrolls of your own so you can save money. If you make your own, you won't have to buy them anymore, just the ink, brushes and paper."

And with that, Naruto's instruction in sealing began.

* * *

**Jiraiya let his love for Naruto block out his conscience. How will this affect their relationship in the future? Will Naruto become a great sealing master like his Uzumaki ancestors? Will he find out about his Jinchuuriki status? Or that his real father is the Yondaime Hokage? Only time will tell.**

_This chapter was a bit emotional. It didn't help that for everything after the bell test I had the song La Fleur from the Lost soundtrack on repeat. I'd definitely recommend listening to it for the second half of this chapter. Let me know what you thought._

_By the way, the three kenjutsu toads are a reference to Battle Toads. Their names mean Rash, Zit and Sore and their title Tatakai no Hikigaeru roughly translates to Battle Toads._


	9. Chapter 8: Land of Waves

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 8**

**Land of Waves**

"So," said Kakashi, looking in between his team. They were standing in their usual training ground, sitting in a circle cross legged, except for Naruto, who was crouching. "Today, we'll be discussing genjutsu."

"Genjutsu?" asked Sakura. "You mean illusionary techniques?"

"Precisely. Sakura and Sasuke are perfect candidates for genjutsu use because of Sakura's low chakra levels and Sasuke's currently latent Sharingan. Naruto isn't because of his larger than normal reserves. So instead of learning genjutsu, we will be learning to dispel it."

"How do we do that?" asked Naruto quizzically.

"For you Naruto, it will be the easiest," said Kakashi. "I need you to do something for me right now."

"What is it Sensei?" he asked.

"I want you to stop your chakra flow."

"What? How?"

"It's just a matter of chakra control. Concentrate on your chakra, grab on to it with your senses, and grind its flow to a halt."

Naruto's expression changed to one of considerable effort. He ground his teeth a bit, but when he managed it, he nodded at Kakashi.

"Now I want you to send your chakra out in as big a burst you can manage. Put your hand in the ram seal and send it out."

Naruto nodded and took a deep breath and sent chakra to every part of his body, ejecting it in all directions.

"Kai!" he shouted, closing his eyes tight. When he opened them, he was sitting on top of one of the wooden posts. "What the hell?"

"You were under a genjutsu right there," said Kakashi with a laugh. "And you dispelled it on your first try. Good job."

Naruto nodded and panted slightly.

"_That was an incredible discharge," _thought Kakashi.

"Genjutsu," he said. "Works by forcing a bit of your chakra into the system of another individual, and use their own chakra flow against them. You have to manipulate the chakra in their brain and scramble their senses, making them see, hear, feel and taste whatever you want them to. Sakura, come here."

Sakura scooted up to Kakashi and he reached his hand out to her. She took his hand and he held it.

"Your chakra control is far more advanced than Naruto or Sasuke's because you don't have much to work with. I want you to channel your chakra from your arm into mine."

She nodded and did as she was told. When he had her stop she seemed a bit worn out.

"You see?" he said. "With most genjutsu you won't need direct touch like that, and you won't need nearly as much. We can work on your chakra reserves, but you would make a fantastic genjutsu user."

Sakura smiled cutely at the praise and Kakashi smiled back.

"Alright," he said. "I want you guys to work on that exercise for a while. Work on using only enough chakra to dispel genjutsu so you won't have to wear yourself out. After that, lunch break, and then we'll go for another mission."

"_I think these guys are ready for a C-rank mission. They've been doing nothing but D-ranks for the last two months, and they've done well not to overly complain. They've earned a chance to leave."_

It was true. In the last two months they had improved in leaps and bounds. Sasuke now knew two additional fire jutsus and the Headhunter jutsu.

Naruto knew headhunter and had been practicing with his wind release techniques to deadly efficiently, and sparring with his toads had increased his kenjutsu levels as well. Fukasaku had even taught him Water Pistol Jutsu, which shot a torrent of water from his mouth with the force of a civilian brigade's fire hose. He had learned to combine it with wind chakra and triple its power. Get hit with that and it was goodbye skin.

Sakura had learned some first aid techniques that didn't involve any jutsu. She had also increased her thrown weapon accuracy, and Kakashi had taught her how to improve her trapping skills. She was going to be formidable as a support unit.

They moaned collectively at the prospect of another mission and got to work on dispelling Kakashi's genjutsu that mostly had to do with silly things like fire under their bottoms or spiders in their hair.

* * *

"Team seven," said Iruka, who was sitting next to the Hokage as they handed out missions to the other genin teams. "There are a few D-ranks here that I think you might enjoy. Naruto might not; it doesn't involve tying people to chairs for a day and a half."

Naruto laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head and Gamakichi giggled from his shoulder.

"Actually," said Kakashi. "I'd like to take these guys out of the village on a C-ranked mission. Their training has gone exceedingly well and I think they're ready."

The Genin spun on their teacher, surprise etched on their faces, but after a few seconds it turned into grateful admiration.

Sarutobi watched them for a few seconds, watching Kakashi in particular.

"If you are so sure," said the Hokage. "I'll grant you this C-rank to protect a certain individual."

"Who?" asked Naruto, getting visibly excited. "A feudal lord? A Princess?"

"I think you and Pa have been watching too many movies together," said Jiraiya from the doorway, coming in to turn in a mission report.

"Hey Dad," said Naruto. "You hear that? We're gonna be protecting somebody! You think it's a sexy princess with a great rack?"

Father and son began sniggering but Sarutobi rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Tazuna," he called. "You can come in."

"These kids look like a bunch of super brats," slurred a drunk old man as he staggered in, glaring at the Genin as he took a swig of whiskey. "Especially that short one with the stupid looking face."

Naruto looked in between his teammates laughing heartily.

"Who's the short one with the stupid… wait… _I'll kill you!_" he shouted, lunging at the old man, but Jiraiya grabbed the back of his goggles.

"We accept the mission," said Kakashi with exasperation.

"Good," said Sarutobi. "You'll be leaving for the Land of Waves tomorrow at eight in the morning. Meet at the Southern Gate."

"What do you do Tazuna-san?" asked Sakura, approaching their client.

"I'm a super expert bridge builder," slurred Tazuna. "I build bridges. I expect your super protection when we get there and until I finish the bridge I'm building."

"G-great," she said pathetically as he turned and staggered out.

* * *

The next morning, they'd all gathered outside of the village gates. Naruto pulled his goggles on and struck a pose.

"Let's get goin'!"

"What are you so excited about?" asked Sakura.

"I've never been anywhere but the mountain I was raised on and the village. I've never been to another city, let alone another country."

"Wow, you're kind of a hick, aren't you?" she said dully.

"You're mean Sakura-chan," Naruto whined, stamping away from her and croaking sadly. Gamakichi stuck his head out of the back of Naruto's robe and threw a candy wrapper at her.

"Let's get along," said Kakashi as he walked by them with Sasuke and Tazuna behind following closely.

"You think we'll be in any great battles on our trip?" asked Naruto, walking circles around Tazuna.

"You're a super annoying little shit ain't you?" asked Tazuna.

"Screw you!" shouted Naruto.

"Stop that Naruto," said Kakashi. "We won't be fighting any foreign ninja; this is a C-rank. You might see some bandits if you are lucky, but the civilian police has tightened ever since Tsunade-sama killed a crime lord in Tanzaku-gai many years ago."

They continued walking in a formation around Tazuna, Sasuke taking point, Naruto and Sakura on his left and right respectively with Kakashi taking the rear.

As they walked Naruto spotted a puddle on the ground. He looked up and saw nothing but a clear blue sky.

"Weird," he said, but thought nothing of it as they continued on. Gamakichi poked back out of his robe and looked at the puddle.

"Hey Naruto," he whispered. "It hasn't rained here in days."

Naruto nodded and was about to mention it to his sensei but stopped cold as soon as he saw them.

As soon as Kakashi's back was to the puddle, a person began rising from the puddle, a man in a tattered black cloak, a massive clawed gauntlet and a face mask of some kind. He darted forward revealing a second ninja standing back to back with him, wearing similar clothing, but his gauntlet was on the left hand rather than the right.

They had a spiked chain connecting their gauntlets that they used to immediately bind Kakashi running circles around him several times at high speeds. Kakashi had a shocked look in his eye as he shouted out a warning to his students.

As soon as they turned to face their sensei the ninjas yanked on the chains, crushing Kakashi and tearing him into bloody shreds, gore flying everywhere.

"Kakashi-sensei!" shouted Naruto, running through hand signs in a panic. Suddenly, the ninjas appeared behind them with their gauntlets gripping eachother, ready to clothesline the Genin into oblivion.

"Two down," they said together.

Naruto did a back flip over the ninjas as Sasuke threw a kunai, nailing their chain to a tree behind them. They thrust their claws forward but realized they were bound when the chain caught.

Naruto finished his hand signs and blew from his mouth, his palms thrusting forward.

"_Futon: Kami Oroshi!" _he shouted as a vortex of wind hit the enemy nins, cutting at their clothes, armor and exposed skin as they went flying away from the group.

"Good one!" shouted his toad partner from his shoulder, gripping Naruto's robe so he didn't fly off.

The two ninjas caught themselves on their feet and charged at Tazuna as the only thing in between them was Sakura. Sakura held up a Kunai and shut her eyes tightly, panicking. Then Sasuke appeared, doing some signs of his own.

Suddenly, the enemy ninjas were clotheslined by Kakashi's arms as he body flickered in front of Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna.

Sasuke was too late to stop his jutsu and threw his head back, spitting a massive fireball into the air above him. Naruto started laughing and clapping.

"Nice fireworks dumbass!" he yelled. Sasuke ignored him and helped Kakashi bind the ninjas to a tree with their own chains.

"Thanks for not making my Kawirimi known Naruto," said Kakashi.

Naruto looked at the spot where Kakashi had "died" and slapped his forehead. He hadn't even seen the chunks of wood all over the ground. Gamakichi slapped his face in an attempt to comfort him but he just shoved the little toad in his robe to shut him up.

Tazuna took a deep breath and a long swig of liquor.

"You guys alright?" Sasuke asked, looking around at his team. He got two thumbs up from Naruto and a shaky nod from Sakura.

"These are hidden mist Chunin," said Kakashi. "They are trained to never stop fighting."

"How did you read our movements?" asked one of the ninjas.

"Who the hell hides in a puddle on a perfectly sunny day?" asked Naruto. "Either you guys are stupid or that puddle was really conveniently placed."

"My thoughts exactly," said Kakashi. The ninjas hissed at them.

"If you knew that," said Tazuna. "Why let the super brats fight?"

"Because I wanted to know who they were after," said Kakashi, rounding on the bridge builder. "It was either you or us, and I highly doubt Sakura was their target."

"Why can't I be a target?" asked Sakura with a teasing pout.

"Not cute enough," said Naruto, putting his hands behind his head as he crouched down. She glared at him and he started sniggering.

"Why haven't we heard that there were ninjas after you Tazuna-san?" asked Kakashi, staring down the old man. "This just became a B-ranked mission."

"That's way more expensive than a C-rank," said Sasuke. "He must have tricked us because he's poor."

"It's not good to lie to us," said Kakashi. "We're currently operating out of our duties, and have no more reason to help you."

"It's true," said Tazuna, not bothering to curse at Sasuke. "My whole country is poor. Even the Daimyo has no money. The people in my town had to pool in what money they had left for this mission. There's a super dangerous man after my life."

"How dangerous are we talkin'?" asked Naruto with a mischievous smirk.

"It's the wealthy shipping magnate, Gato."

Naruto snapped to attention, gaining everyone's attention in turn.

"I know who that is!" he yelled, biting his thumb and planting his hand on the ground. There was a puff of smoke and a small toad appeared, wearing goggles over its eyes. It looked up at Naruto and croaked. Naruto pulled off his own goggles and spoke to the toad.

"Go find my dad in the village and tell him to give me everything he has on Gato!"

The toad nodded and body flickered back towards the village.

* * *

Jiraiya was lying in his bed, snoring loudly when a large toad appeared above him and landed hard on his stomach, knocking the wind out of him immediately. Jiraiya coughed and threw the toad off of him and scrambled to his feet, looking for the emergency.

"Boss!" said the toad, catching the Sage's attention. "Naruto-chan needs a favor!"

"Isn't he on a C-ranked mission?" asked Jiraiya irritably with a yawn.

"I don't know," said the toad. "But he wants anything you have on Gato."

"Gato?" said Jiraiya. "Yeah, I've got a few things. I wonder what this is about."

Jiraiya went to the desk on the other side of his room and opened a drawer. He looked through his files until he found a particularly thick one on Gato. He'd been keeping tabs on the little swine for over a decade since the fiasco with Tsunade in Tanzaku-gai twelve years prior. He took a look in it and the last data he'd entered was that Gato was in the Land of Waves, and that was a year ago. Jiraiya slapped his hand to his face.

"Aw, shit," he cursed. Naruto was going to the Land of Waves. It didn't help that the two of them knew Gato personally.

* * *

**Two Years Ago**

Gato was visiting Konoha on business with some local traders to set up an agreement on their prices and trade fees with the council. Jiraiya and Naruto had been making their bimonthly visit to the village when they were approached by the small man.

Naruto and his father were doing a bit of clothes shopping when they were approached by a foreign ninja. He looked to be wearing a Suna forehead protector.

"Are you Jiraiya of the Sannin?" the ninja asked.

"Who's askin'?" said Jiraiya, holding up a pair of panties and giggling pervertedly. The Suna ninja stared at him with a deadpanned look.

"It's Gato, of Gato Industries. He wants an audience with you."

"Can it wait?" asked Jiraiya. "We're a bit busy."

"No," said a gruff voice. Jiraiya turned around to see Gato himself walking in, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses and his arms behind his back as usual. "It's vital that I speak to you now Jiraiya-dono."

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and set the panties back on the rack, turning to face the shipping tycoon. A few seconds later Naruto ran out to show his dad this awesome pair of edible panties he'd found sneaking in the back room.

"Hey Dad," said Naruto, shaking the box in his hand. "What's goin' on?"

"Get outta here!" snapped Gato. "The adults need to talk."

Jiraiya loomed over Gato menacingly, casting a shadow over both him and his bodyguard. He simply stared at Gato, not saying anything.

"Fine fine," said Gato, holding his hands in front of him. "The kid can stay. I need your help Jiraiya-dono."

"What is it?" asked Jiraiya. He already disliked the small man.

"I need some people taken care of," said Gato. "Theres a bit of land and I need it for my trade routes. I bought the land out and now I own everything there, but the people there don't seem to like it very much."

"I can't see why," said Jiraiya sarcastically. Gato was known for monopolizing small countries and driving them into the mud to make himself richer.

"Yes, well," said Gato. "I need a strong ninja like yourself to help me… ascertain some additional assets. As in removing the assets previous owners."

"So you want me to kill people to make thing easier for you?" said Jiraiya.

"That's dumb," said Naruto, putting the edible panties on a shelf. "If they don't wanna give you their stuff, then they shouldn't have to. If you're just gonna kill them then why bother?"

Gato glared at Naruto.

"Shut up you little—"

"If you're gonna call me short look in a mirror!" Naruto croaked hotly. It was true. Despite the fact that Gato was middle aged, he and the ten year old were the same height. Gato didn't like shots at his stature. His face turned red and his hand shot out to slap Naruto.

At least until it was sliced off by Jiraiya's kunai.

"Don't touch my son," said Jiraiya coldly. "And get the fuck out of my village."

The Suna ninja panicked and was about to attack them but Jiraiya punched him in the throat, downing him hard. Gato screamed and held his severed wrist, staggering out of the building.

"I'll ruin you Jiraiya!" he wailed as his bodyguards loaded him into a carriage for treatment. "And I'll see that brat of yours crucified!"

That was the last time he was seen in Konoha. It didn't end his trade there. Despite his newfound grudge against Konoha ninja, he refused to pass up any chance to make a few Ryo.

* * *

Jiraiya remembered the threat of long ago, and knew that Naruto was probably going to walk right into Gato's hand.

"He can handle it," Jiraiya said nonchalantly, giving the toad the folder. "Tell Naruto to be careful, and if he sees Gato, to just finish him off for me."

The toad nodded and leapt out of the bedroom window.

* * *

**The Demon's Hidden Base**

"You've failed Zabuza," said Gato harshly, pointing at the man in question with the plastic hand attached to his wrist. "Your ninja's couldn't even handle the task of murdering a fucking contractor!"

"Haku," said Zabuza coldly, his deep rumbling voice reverberating off of the walls. "Who did you see with Tazuna again? Remind me."

"Sharingan Kakashi," said an effeminate voice from the shadows. "The Copy Ninja."

"I don't care who it was! I want results!" screamed Gato, his two samurai bodyguards tensing. They may have had katanas, but it was obvious they were just street thugs who talked more shit than they could push out.

Zabuza looked up at his client, his maddening glare exposed in between the bandages covering his face and his Kirigakure headbeand. He grabbed the handle sticking up from behind his shoulder and hefted a massive cleaver like zanbato with a head sized hole near the front, perfect for decapitation. He swung the hole over Gato's head, the cold steel weighing down on his shoulders as he realized one more bad move would get his head cleaved off.

"I don't care how much you're paying," said Zabuza. "Shut your fat fucking mouth and let me do my job. I'll be going out to take care of this myself."

Gato gulped and nodded as the sword was slowly removed from his head and shoulders.

"I'll pay you double if you bring me Kakashi's head as well," said Gato shakily. "And you can keep his bounty for yourself."

"That's what I like you hear," said Zabuza.

xXx

After an expert guilt trip by Tazuna, Kakashi agreed to continue the mission to Wave. Of course Tazuna would appeal to the welfare of his daughter and ten year old grandson. As pathetic as Kakashi felt for agreeing to it, he caved and a week and a half later they were in a small boat heading towards Wave. The mist was so thick that one could only see about one hundred feet in any direction.

They passed the bridge and Naruto got a bit excited at the size of it, at least what he could see through the mist, and Sakura had to shove an oar in his mouth to shut him up. She had to admit, it was fairly gargantuan, extending from the small island chain that was the Land of Waves, all the way to the Land of Fire

"Quiet," hissed the ferryman. "If we get spotted by Gato's men, we're screwed. I'm going to take a path that has a bit of vegetation to increase our cover."

"Good idea," said Kakashi.

"How long is it?" asked Naruto.

"About Five miles," said Tazuna, taking a drink from his bottle. "It'll be a super bridge when it's completed."

"Five miles?" groaned Gamakichi. "That'd take weeks to hop across!"

"Stop whining," said Naruto. "It's not like you've walked anywhere in weeks. All you do is sit on my head and eat candy! You're getting a bit heavy now that I think about it."

"Are you calling me fat?" croaked the little toad indignantly.

"Maybe I am!" Naruto challenged, but Sakura slapped him on the back of the head.

They were all silenced when the mist began to clear and they saw they were now in a river passing between islands. The plant life and scenery was beautiful. Kakashi figured that if the bridge was complete this land would make a supreme vacation spot for the wealthy.

Kakashi looked around at his students and saw Naruto looking through Gato's file. Naruto hadn't mentioned how he knew Gato, but he didn't question his student.

"Naruto," he said. "Can I see that file?"

Naruto nodded and passed it over.

"Apparently he's totally bought out Wave," said Naruto, turning to face the team and crossing his legs. "The economy has gotten so bad because of it, people are starving, but the Hokage and our Daimyo can't do anything because Gato's trade routes are too vital to us."

"So if that bridge is finished," said Sasuke. "We won't need Gato's ships anymore."

"Exactly," said Tazuna. "You may be super brats, but you can be super smart when you wanna be."

Naruto blushed and scratched the back of his head.

"Well," said Kakashi, looking at his team. "Let's save a country then. Tazuna-san can pay us for a B-ranked mission when things improve here, right Tazuna-san?"

Kakashi looked at Tazuna darkly and the bridge builder choked on his Sake and nodded, not wanting to piss off the Jounin any more than he had.

"That's right Sensei," he said quickly.

"Good," said Kakashi as the boat came up to dock.

"This is as far as I go," said the ferryman. "Good luck, all of you."

"Super thanks," said Tazuna.

"Why do you always say that?" asked Sakura.

"Say what?"

"Super."

"I don't say super," said Tazuna giving her a questioning look. "Are you drunk Pinkie?"

Sakura tried to punch him but was stopped by Kakashi.

"Be nice to the client," said Kakashi, leading them to a clearing that would take them into town.

Naruto suddenly turned and threw a shuriken into the bushes. Everyone got ready for battle.

"What is it?" demanded Kakashi. Naruto looked into the bush and saw that he'd nearly hit a poor little white rabbit. He panicked and grabbed the bunny, hugging it close and apologizing.

Everyone rolled their eyes except for Kakashi.

"It's spring," he said. "Rabbits like that only turn white in the winter. That means it was raised inside, probably for a replacement. Isn't that right?"

Kakashi then spun and threw several shuriken into the trees above. A figure leapt from the tree Kakashi was aiming at and threw a massive fuuma shuriken.

"Duck!" shouted Kakashi as everyone threw themselves to the ground, narrowly avoiding dismemberment.

"So," said a voice. "You are Sharingan Kakashi."

"Sharingan?" gasped Sasuke, spinning on his sensei.

"Zabuza Momochi," said Kakashi as he stared at his opponent from the ground. "Demon of the Hidden Mist."

Zabuza was indeed there, standing on a tree branch and gripping the handle of his sword as he leaned it on his shoulder.

"At your service," said Zabuza, pulling his massive sword from his back. "I also do funerals."

xXx

**A Jounin level ninja appears! Will Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke have what it takes to fight someone like this? Or will Kakashi be the one to save the day? What does Sharingan Kakashi mean? Only time will tell.**

_The Land of Waves arc begins! Hope you enjoyed this chapter._


	10. Chapter 9: Demon of the Hidden Mist

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 9**

**Demon of the Hidden Mist**

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," said Kakashi, grabbing the bottom of his forehead protector. "And if I tell you to run, you do it. Understand?"

"Yes Sensei," the Genin said simultaneously, pulling out weapons and surrounding the bridge builder, with Sasuke facing Kakashi and Naruto and Sakura behind them. Sasuke tried to get a good look at Kakashi's face, but was at a bad vantage point.

When Kakashi pulled up his forehead protector, he turned to look at Sasuke. The last Uchiha's heart leapt into his throat when he saw it. A red eye with three spinning tomoe around the pupil.

Kakashi turned back to look at Zabuza.

"You know Tazuna," said the Copy Ninja, pulling out a kunai and twirling it in his hand. "You're going to owe me quite a bit after this is over. This just became an A-ranked mission."

Tazuna gulped and nodded.

"So," said Zabuza. "I already get to see the famous Sharingan. It truly is an honor."

"What is a Sharingan, exactly?" asked Sakura, looking at Naruto.

"My Pa taught me about it a long time ago when we were talking about Konoha clans," said Naruto. "It's the Uchiha bloodline technique, or kekkei genkai. It can read and defeat any taijutsu, genjutsu and ninjutsu. It's can even copy techniques by memorizing chakra flow and hand signs. Its freaking scary, but really powerful."

"You have smart kids Kakashi," said Zabuza. "Too bad they'll have to die here with you."

"You'll have to kill me first," said Kakashi.

"That won't be easy," laughed the Kiri ninja. "When I was an assassin for Kirigakure my Bingo book had a section on you. The man who has copied over one thousand ninjutsu… Hatake Kakashi."

"Wow," said Naruto with a snarky tone. "You da man Kakashi-sensei."

"_How?" _Sasuke asked himself. _"The Sharingan only comes to the most elite in the Uchiha clan. How can someone who isn't even an Uchiha have one?"_

"Enough talk," said Zabuza, swinging his sword over his head. "The old man is mine!"

Zabuza leapt off of the tree and into the lake near the road.

"What is he doing?" Kakashi whispered to himself.

Zabuza slowly came out of the water until he was standing atop it.

"He's standing on the water!" gasped Sakura.

"So?" asked Naruto. He didn't understand why that exercise was so damn hard for everyone else.

Zabuza made a one hand sign in front of his face and stuck his left hand into the air.

"He's unleashing a lot of chakra," said Kakashi quietly. Zabuza looked Kakashi in the eye.

"_Kirigakure no Jutsu,"_ he whispered. A massive body of mist covered Zabuza, concealing him from view. When it cleared, he was gone.

"He's going to come for me first," Kakashi told his team. "He's an expert in silent killing."

"So we might not even notice when we die," said Sasuke, backing towards Tazuna. "Insane."

"I can't use the Sharingan perfectly," said Kakashi. "So be very caref—"

He looked around quickly and noticed that the mist was encroaching on them quickly, and only thickening faster with every passing second.

"Shit!" hissed Naruto, his hands ready to sign at any given moment.

"Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein," whispered Zabuza's voice from the mist. "Jugular, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?"

Everyone cringed as they felt his killing intent coming down on them from every angle. It was one of the most intense pressures they'd ever felt. All three Genin began to sweat and shake with fear.

"Don't worry guys," whispered Kakashi. "I'll protect you even if it kills me. I don't let my comrades die."

He turned around and smiled, but gasped when Zabuza appeared in between Sasuke and Tazuna.

"We'll see about that!" roared Zabuza, swinging out his sword. Kakashi shoved Sasuke out of the way and stabbed Zabuza in the gut, but Zabuza's body dissipated into water. A second Zabuza appeared behind him and slashed Kakashi in half, but Kakashi turned into water as well.

"He copied it in this mist?" growled Zabuza.

"I see you like clones," croaked Naruto, swinging his sword at Zabuza. Zabuza dodged and sliced Naruto in half, but Naruto became a mere puff of smoke. "I do too!"

Two more Naruto's appeared from the mist throwing fuuma shurikens. Zabuza dodged the weapons and appeared before the blondes, carving into them quickly, but they turned out to be clones as well. When he spun around he dodged a flurry of kunai and Shuriken thrown by Sasuke. Zabuza looked around and didn't see Tazuna or Sakura anywhere.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped in behind him with weapons in hand, but the missing-nin shoved his sword into the ground, using it to lift himself and kick both Genin in the faces. They cried out in pain as they tumbled into the dirt.

Sasuke regained himself first and ran through hand signs.

_"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!"_

Sasuke spit four small fireballs at Zabuza, who danced around them. He hissed when he realized the fireballs were beginning to follow him so he responded by swatting them away with his sword and dispelling them with swift slashes and cuts.

He turned on the Genin to see two Narutos charging at him and smiled under his bandages when they came at him with their swords. He humored them by moving around their sword slashes and blocking a few of the more lucky strikes before just slicing them both in half, revealing nothing but clones. He was about to attack the Genin when Kakashi appeared behind him with a kunai.

"Don't move," said Kakashi, pressing a kunai to Zabuza's throat. "It's over."

"Not even close," said Zabuza. "You copied my jutsu before we even started fighting. When you spoke to your students it was already a clone and the real one was in the trees waiting. I'm not stupid Kakashi."

Kakashi's eyes widened as Zabuza appeared behind him, the one he was holding turning into water.

"Not by a long shot!" shouted the Demon of the Mist, swinging his sword. Kakashi just barely managed to duck under it. Zabuza swung his body around and kicked Kakashi, sending him tumbling into the lake. Zabuza tried to approach but spotted nails all over the ground. A single step and his feet would be impaled and he wouldn't be able to walk anymore.

"Damn you Kakashi," he said, leaping over them and running towards the lake. When Kakashi emerged he was struggling to swim.

"The water is heavy," he gasped through his soaked mask.

"_Suirō no Jutsu!"_ shouted Zabuza as the water came up and trapped Kakashi in a ball. Water prison technique. Zabuza kept one hand inside the water prison to keep it going. "This prison is denser than steel despite being made of water. You aren't getting out. Now to finish the brats."

He performed water clone jutsu with a single hand seal. Unfortunately he had to make this one weaker than usual so he would have enough chakra to keep the water prison up long enough to drown Kakashi.

"Sensei!" shouted Naruto. The water clone appeared in front of him and kicked him so hard his forhead protector flew off and Gamakichi came out of his robes. The little toad scrambled into the bushes and hid.

Kakashi wanted to tell them to run. He wanted to, but he couldn't or he would drown.

"You don't deserve this thing," said the Zabuza clone, stepping on the forehead protector. "You can play ninja all you want, but until you appear in my bingo book, you aren't worth shit!"

Naruto struggled to his feet and spit some blood onto his hand. The Zabuza ran forward, ready to cleave Naruto in half.

"I'm gonna be a sage someday," said Naruto, running through hand seals. "And I won't let you stop me!"

He slammed his palm into the ground and a toad appeared in front of him, blocking the sword strike with its own katanas. It was Haashin of the Tatakai no Hikigaeru.

"I'm your opponent," said the Toad, leaping forward and striking at the Zabuza clone. The clone had to move as fast as it could to block the rapid strikes of the toad.

"You're done here!" shouted Naruto. The toad nodded and poofed into smoke. Naruto sprung up from the smoke, goggles on and hand sign ready. "Now Sasuke!"

Sasuke appeared behind the clone as the Genin spat out their oil and fire, meeting above the clone and exploding in a massive fireball.

The clone landed near the lake, having narrowly avoided destruction and saw Naruto grab his forehead protector.

"Hey you eyebrowless freak show," said Naruto, tying on the forehead protector and gazing at Zabuza from beneath his goggles. "I'll be in that book soon enough. Look for my name in a few years. Naruto Uzumaki, Toad Sage of Konohagakure no Sato! _Let's get wild!_"

Naruto summoned five clones who came at Zabuza with wind chakra enhanced swords.

"Shit!" said the water clone. "How strong are these fucking kids?"

He suddenly found himself on the run, avoiding any and all sword slashes from the clones, which was hard considering the clone was made with the intent of conserving chakra therefore could not use any water jutsus, and could not block or his sword would be sliced in half, thus dispelling the clone, leaving the real Zabuza vulnerable to attack.

The clone narrowly avoided another barrage of fireballs from Sasuke and continued do dance around the clones. He finally found an opening and began carving them down one by one.

When he'd finished the last one, he felt someone grab his legs. He looked down to see a pair of hands gripping them and looked up to see Sasuke performing some hand seals. Just as Sasuke's Great Fireball Jutsu left his mouth, Zabuza slashed his sword into the ground, killing the Naruto clone holding him and allowing him to jump over the ball of flames speeding towards him.

Suddenly an army of Naruto's with swords unsheathed burst out of the trees, charging at Zabuza. The real Naruto grabbed Sasuke and pulled him into the forest.

"Got any good plans this time?" asked Naruto as he watched his clones get slaughtered by Zabuza's vicious sword strikes.

"I'll find Sakura and Tazuna to confirm that they are safe," said Sasuke. "You and your clones try and do something about Zabuza and I'll come up with a way to free Kakashi."

Naruto made four more clones.

"Got it covered," said Naruto with a smirk.

The Zabuza was making short work of these Naruto clones. He was shocked at how many there were though. Shadow clones took a lot more chakra than any elemental clone.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw two clones running past him, protectively guarding another who was holding a fuuma shuriken.

"The real one!" he hissed. Zabuza made his move and tore into the two clones protecting the real Naruto, who gasped and threw his fuuma shuriken at the real Zabuza, who ducked under it. The Zabuza clone sliced into Naruto, only for him to see that it was a clone.

* * *

Sasuke and a Naruto clone ran through the trees, looking for their team mate.

"Down here," said Gamakichi, hopping up next to them and moving at their pace. "I found 'em."

They followed the toad to Sakura's location.

"Good, you guys are okay," said Naruto.

"This is a super amazing battle," said Tazuna quietly, crouching next to them.

"We've already got a plan going to save Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto. "I have another plan to finish his clone, but it's gonna take all four of us."

"What do you need?" asked Sakura.

"Here, take these sealing scrolls and explosive tags I made," said Naruto. "Sasuke made this plan."

"Here's what we're going to do," said Sasuke.

* * *

Behind Zabuza, the fuuma shuriken suddenly turned into another Naruto clone, who threw four shuriken at Zabuza. Zabuza turned and saw it almost too late and had to release his jutsu, and in turn Kakashi.

Kakashi lunged at Zabuza and the Demon of the Mist had to block his kunai with his sword, locking in a struggle of power.

"I love my students," grunted Kakashi. The two of them went full on, slashing, blocking dodging as they engaged in close combat. Kakashi had the advantage of speed, but Zabuza had power, and each sword slash was disrupting the water and kept Kakashi mostly on the run.

With the Naruto clones, fifteen of them were left and they had the Zabuza clone surrounded.

"_Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu!" _they shouted in unison, carving the area the clone was in to bits. The Zabuza clone leapt high into the air and came down at the Naruto clones. Two of them jumped above him and struck him with his Godly Wind from the Mountains jutsu, the vortex of wind nearly hitting the clone as it used its sword to protect itself. It pushed through the vortex and broke it, slashing through both clones like they were nothing. When the clone landed it was panting.

"This kid is more trouble than he's worth."

The remaining Naruto clones dispelled, creating a massive cloud of smoke. When it cleared, the real Naruto was standing off with the Zabuza clone, his goggles helping hide the expression of fear on his face. A moment later he was joined by Sasuke and Sakura.

"Tazuna is safe," said Sakura with an edge of fear in her voice.

"Did you use those seals I gave you?" asked Naruto. Sakura nodded.

Zabuza jumped forward and prepared to carve them all down. Suddenly all three of them made a dog hand sign and shouted out. Six kunai with ninja wire launched from sealing scrolls attached to the trees and cut the clone off, a wire fence covered in explosive tags acting as a barrier in between him and them. He tried to turn around but they made the boar hand sign and even more kunai, wire and tags came out of the trees and boxed him in. He looked up and kunai flew in from the trees, parallel to each other horizontally. He was caged in.

"Damn," said the clone. "I don't have enough chakra left for a Kawirimi. I didn't expect a bunch of fucking greenhorns to require that much effort do defeat. I'm fucked."

"_Konoha's Team Seven Secret Technique!" _said Naruto dramatically. _"Burning Cage ofSeals!"_

They made the snake hand seal and their explosive seals began to explode, one after the other, a massive inferno towering over the lake. The clone did not escape.

Kakashi and Zabuza stopped fighting momentarily to stare at the massive explosion. Zabuza knew his clone was dead and turned to glare at Kakashi.

"I guess you should start giving a shit," said Kakashi, just as the Genin burst onto the shore, avoiding the flames. Zabuza growled and the two of them leapt away from each other and began running through a total of forty-four hand signs: Ox, Monkey, Hare, Rat, Boar, Bird, Ox, Horse, Bird, Rat, Tiger, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Ox, Ram, Snake, Boar, Ram, Rat, Yang Water, Monkey, Bird, Dragon, Bird, Ox, Horse, Ram, Tiger, Snake, Rat, Monkey, Hare, Boar, Dragon, Ram, Rat, Ox, Monkey, Bird, Yang Water, Rat, Boar, Bird.

"_**Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!"**_

Two massive dragons made of water shot up from behind their users and roared, colliding in the middle of the lake. The splash of water was so great, it flooded the clearing momentarily and put out most of the fire from the explosion. The two opponents got their bearings and stood across from eachother.

"_I can't believe how well he's—"_

"Reading your movements?" Kakashi interrupted Zabuza's thoughts.

"_Is he—"_

"Reading your mind?"

"All you're doing is copying me!" they shouted in unison. "I'll make it so you never open your mouth again!"

Zabuza started running through hand signs but stopped cold when he saw a vision of himself behind Kakashi.

"A genjutsu?"

"_Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"_

Suddenly, a massive vortex of water erupted in front of Kakashi, sweeping over Zabuza and tearing him off of his feet, along with several trees along the shore. Zabuza impacted on a large tree near the shore, breaking many of his bones. The missing-nin slid to the ground, shaking and gasping for breath. Kakashi appeared on a tree above him with a kunai in hand.

"How?" pleaded Zabuza, looking up at the man who had defeated him. "Can you see the future?"

"Yeah," said Kakshi. "You're going to die."

Before Kakashi could act, two senbon needles suddenly found themselves embedded in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi and his team looked at the thrower with shock as a very young ninja with his hair in a bun, a white mask and a turtle neck sweater revealed himself.

"Yes," said the ninja in an effeminate voice. "He is dead."

Naruto looked behind him to see Tazuna approaching.

"Thanks for slapping those tags on the trees Tazuna-san," he said, turning back to look at the new arrival.

"No problem," said Tazuna, obviously sober at this point.

"Who are you?" asked Kakashi. "Your mask tells me that you are a Kiri hunter-nin."

"Very perceptive Kakashi-senpai," said the hunter-nin. Kakashi darted to Zabuza's corpse and checked for a pulse.

"He's dead," he said to his team and Tazuna.

"I've been after Zabuza for a very long time," said the hunter-nin.

"You can't be older than we are," said Naruto, crossing his arms. "But you're skill is amazing! How could a kid like you sneak up on Zabuza?"

"Listen to me Naruto," said Kakashi, looking at his student with his Sharingan eye. "There are kids way younger than you in this world… who are even stronger than me."

Naruto nodded, scowling at the thought. Was he really so low on the food chain?

The hunter-nin came down from the tree and picked up Zabuza's corpse.

"I must dispose of this body," he said. "As it holds many secrets. Thank you, and goodbye."

With that, he vanished in a swirl of mist.

Kakashi lowered his forehead protector back over his eye and looked at all of them.

"Let's get Tazuna-san home," he said with a smile. Everyone took a few steps forward, but then stopped cold when Kakashi collapsed to the ground.

"Are you okay sensei?" Sakura squealed, pulling out a first aid kid.

"I used the sharingan for too long," he groaned. Everyone sighed and Naruto made a few clones to carry their sensei into town.

* * *

"You guys did great," said Kakashi, who was tucked into bed in one of Tazuna's guest rooms. "I'm very proud of you."

"How long are you going to be in bed Sensei?" asked Naruto.

"Probably a week," said Kakashi. "I've got pretty bad chakra exhaustion. A lesson learned well before you have to experience it. When your body runs completely out of chakra, you'll die so if you have the option to, retreat when low on chakra."

"Got it," said Sakura, nodding at her sensei's wise words.

"Good," said Kakashi. "Since we're here, I need you guys to do different jobs. Naruto or Sasuke should go into town and see what Gato has been up to. Sakura, I need you at the house to keep an eye on things for me."

The Genin nodded at their tasks and went on their way.

* * *

With Kakashi safely tucked into bed with chakra exhaustion, the Genin took different assignments. Sasuke opted to go to work with Tazuna to keep guard there, Sakura was put in charge of caring for Kakashi until he woke up and Naruto's job was to find any information on Gato he could.

Naruto's decided to go incognito on his first visit into town, so he put his forehead protector in his backpack and put his goggles on his forehead. He went to the bathroom before he left and saw that he was a mess from the fight with Zabuza. He had no injuries, but apparently his face had been bleeding in several places and his face was covered in soot from that explosion, so he took a shower before leaving.

Naruto said goodbye to Sakura and the resting Kakashi, as well as Tazuna's daughter Tsunami. She was a sweet older lady, almost thirty, but still retaining her youthful good looks. He had to remember to do a bit of research on her while she was in the shower later.

Gamakichi was outside waiting for him, sleeping on the porch. He told Gamakichi to stay with Sakura while he went out because it would be too easy to identify him as a ninja if he were to walk around with a summoned creature.

Things were awful. People everywhere were on the street, huddled together for warmth. Many were begging for food and he had to avoid some of them to remain inconspicuous. He was fairly hungry as he hadn't eaten since before they'd fought Zabuza.

He sighed and decided to find a place to hide and eat the bento Ma had made him. He'd been saving it because it looked so damned good, but the shops didn't have anything to sell to him besides some vegetables and fish. Even fish was being monopolized by Gato.

"Little piece of shit," he grumbled, heading to the beach where he was sure no one would see him. He bought a map of the village from a nearby vendor and took a look. He found a small beach on the map and decided that would be a good spot for lunch. He ran over there and looked around to make sure no one was watching.

Naruto crouched down and pulled his backpack off, pulling out his bento box and opening it, revealing the goodies hidden within. He was about to dig in when he heard a whimper behind him. He turned his head slowly and saw a girl his age with a little boy about half his age.

The girl was very pretty. She had bright green eyes and sandy brown hair, tan skin, her shirt a bit skewed by the boy tugging on it showing distinct tan lines. She seemed to be developing well for someone her age. She wasn't quite malnourished yet, and it showed. Naruto dropped the omelet held in between his chopsticks and stared at her.

"Um," she said quietly. "We haven't had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Someone stole from our mom's vegetable garden… is there anything you could share?"

Naruto couldn't help but stare at her more. He slowly handed her the bento box, unable to take his eyes off of her. She blushed and took it, shying away from him a bit.

Naruto sighed and reached into his bag for a sealing scroll. He unfurled it and summoned its contents. Another bento box. It wasn't the one Ma had made, but it had a few sandwiches in it, so it would have to do. He unfurled another one and a few bottles of soda pop poofed out into existence as well, which he handed one to each of them, opening one for himself.

"That's all you're getting from me," he croaked, digging in to his sandwich. "This is my last one, eat it quick."

They nodded and sat with him, quickly sharing the contents. The girl let her little brother eat a bit more.

"How did you do that?" the girl asked. Naruto looked over at her and tilted his head in confusion. "I mean making the food appear on the paper."

"Oh," he said. "It's just sealing. My dad taught me. It's a ninja art. Not really appreciated anymore."

She nodded and continued eating.

"So you're a ninja?" she asked. Naruto scratched his head and looked for the best answer he could.

"Yeah," he said. "But don't tell anyone I'm here. I'm supposed to be undercover…"

"What for?" asked her little brother. He looked to be about five or six. Naruto scooted up to them and whispered.

"Do you guys know where Gato is?"

The girl and her brother looked at each other and nodded slowly.

"Where is he?" he asked, taking out his map of Wave. "Can you point out his office or something for me?"

The girl nodded and pointed to a building on the map.

"What are you going to do when you get there?" she asked.

"If I can get any of his files I can really disrupt his business here," said Naruto. "But if I can kill Gato myself, then everything will be good and done and over with."

"Kill him?" the girl asked incredulously. "Why would you want to kill anyone?"

Naruto stared at her for a long time before speaking up again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Nami," she said. "We live right next to the beach and my mom named me after the waves."

"I'm Naruto," he said. "And I'm from Konhagakure no Sato. I was hired to save this country from Gato. So I have a job to do."

"But you're just a kid," she said, standing up while her brother kept eating, unaware of the conversation that was quickly heating up. "You can't just go around killing people!"

"I don't!" he croaked, standing up and glaring at her. "I've never killed anyone before! I know Gato, and he's an evil person. If I don't kill him, he'll just buy his way out of jail!"

"Do what you want," she said, crossing her arms and turning away from him. "If you just kill people without a second thought, you'll be no better than that Gato."

"Oh screw you," croaked Naruto, grabbing his backpack and stomping off. "If he survives, you'll just go hungry again!"

Nami stared after him and huffed.

* * *

Sasuke and Tazuna were overseeing the building of the bridge. Tazuna was helping with the actual building, while Sasuke was training. He was shadowboxing with an invisible opponent and looked to be winning. Tazuna rolled his eyes and approached the Genin.

"Hey kid," said Tazuna. "Why don't you stop that for a minute and help me with this stuff?"

"I can't," said Sasuke. "I need to get stronger. Naruto did more against Zabuza than I could and I can't let that go."

"Listen kid," said Tazuna. "That Naruto brat is good, and its okay to want to beat him. Nothing wrong with a friendly rivalry. But if you dedicate yourself to nothing but getting stronger, you'll end up letting your work slip. You'll get sloppy!"

Sasuke stopped what he was doing and looked up at Tazuna.

"So what do you expect me to do?" he demanded.

"Do some work," said Tazuna with a friendly grin. "Nothing will get you stronger than some backbreaking labor."

Sasuke thought about it for a moment. It could help with his physical strength to just help around the bridge. He was probably stronger than any of the men there, so if he worked hard and fast, it could count as some training. He nodded and picked up a huge pile of lumber.

"Where does this go?" he asked. Tazuna laughed and pounded him on the back.

"That's the spirit!" he shouted. "Let's get going!"

They worked for a long while, Sasuke helping to hand stuff down to the workers building the base of the bridge as well as mixing and laying concrete. Eventually Sasuke and Tazuna took a lunch break and ate some sandwiches while sitting on the bridge with their legs hanging off of the end, looking down at the ocean below.

"So how come you're risking your life to build this bridge?" asked Sasuke. "Wouldn't it be easier to just cut your losses and move out of the country?"

"That's not the right way of thinking," said Tazuna. "I'm risking my life for this place because I love it. It means a lot to me, and my family. I should tell you about my son in law. He was a good man, and he had very strong principles. My grandson Inari looked up to the man despite not being his real father."

"What happened to him?" asked Sasuke.

"Gato happened."

* * *

Sakura spent the day with Tsunami, helping her with household chores and with feeding Kakashi since he still couldn't move. For the moment the women were hanging up laundry while her son Inari ran around with some toys. The boy was a bit mopey, but having his grandfather back seemed to help his mood.

"Sakura-chan?" said Tsunami. "Could you go inside and check on dinner?"

"Yes Tsunami-san!" said Sakura cheerily. In her mind she was thinking about how boring her ninja career was. She was stuck babysitting Kakashi while the boys were out and about. It wasn't fair. She had barely done anything during the fight with those assassins, but at least she had helped with Zabuza, even if just a little.

"Hey Sensei?" she said to Kakashi when she went into his room later.

"Yes Sakura?" said Kakashi, staring at the ceiling.

"I know I'm not as talented as Sasuke-kun," she said a bit dreamily, then snapped out of it. "Or Naruto-moron, but is there a way you can teach me to become a medical ninja?"

Kakashi continued to stare at the ceiling before speaking again.

"No I can't," he said. She looked down at the floor. "But Tsunade-sama's apprentice Shizune has a medical ninja program back in the village. I'd be happy to sign you up for it."

Sakura looked up brightly and thanked her sensei repeatedly.

"It's no problem," said Kakashi. "You're my student. It's my job to look after your interests."

Sakura smiled happily and went back to doing chores with Tsunami.

"_She certainly has grown,"_ thought Kakashi. _"She's finally gotten around to realizing her responsibility as a member of the team. Good for her."_

Kakashi continued to stare at the ceiling.

"_My butt itches. I wonder what that Hunter-nin did with the body... Aren't they supposed to... Oh... shit."_

"Sakura!" he shouted. "I need you to go find Naruto and Sasuke right now!"

* * *

When Naruto made it to the building he'd been directed to by Nami, he recognized it as the right place due to the big Gato Industries sign on the front wall. It was honestly the nicest looking building he'd seen in Wave with its red brick outside and what seemed to be gilded doors.

"How rich is this asshole?" muttered Naruto. He looked around and saw an alley leading to the back of the building. He was about to go around and look for an alternate entrance when someone grabbed his robe. A Kunai shot out from his sleeve and he spun on the person, pointing it at their neck.

"Nami?" he said when he saw it was the sandy haired girl from before. She had a terrified look on her face when he removed the kunai. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry," she said, rubbing her neck and glaring at him. "I forgot, you were a ninja."

"Announce it to the whole world why don't you," he said. She was alone this time, no little boy following her. Naruto shook his head and was about to go on his way.

"Stop!" she said. "That place is full of thugs and ninjas!"

Naruto stopped and looked at her.

"Is it?" he asked. "That's actually all I was going in there for. Maybe a few documents."

"To fight?" she hissed. "Are you stupid?"

"No!" he hissed back. "To see what we're up against! I'm not the only ninja here you know!"

She looked around.

"None of them are going to come up and assassinate me are they?" she asked sarcastically.

"Funny," he said. "No, I was put in charge of intelligence gathering. My squad leader is incapacitated because we fought an elite missing ninja on our way here and my team is guarding the bridge while its being built."

"You're here to protect the bridge?" she asked him, not glaring anymore.

"Yeah," he said. "That's our job. But Gato is trying to keep it from happening so it's my job to make sure he stays out of the way. I've dealt with that bastard before."

"What happened last time?" she asked slowly.

"I cut off his hand!" Naruto lied, grinning proudly. His dad could let him have credit for that one.

"That was you?" she exclaimed. "How insane are you?"

"Insane enough to be a shinobi," he said, laughing heartily. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to—"

He turned around and prepared to walk into the alley but bumped right into a tall man. Naruto looked up to see he was a man in his early twenties wearing a Kiri headband.

"Well shit," said Naruto. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Do I know you?" asked the ninja slowly.

"No," said Naruto. "How much did you hear?"

"Nothing," said the ninja narrowing his eyes. "Is there something I should know?"

"Yeah," said Naruto, gesturing the ninja to come closer. The ninja leaned in to hear what Naruto had to say. "There's a squad of Konoha ninja in town. They killed Zabuza and are coming for Gato!"

The Kiri ninja's eyes widened.

"Oh shit!" the ninja hissed. "He's dead?"

"Yeah," said Naruto. "Tazuna has been bragging about it all day."

"That old fuck," said the Ninja. "I'll just kill him now and get that money for myself!"

"One more thing," said Naruto.

"What kid?"

"Greetings from the Leaf motherfucker," Naruto said, shoving the hidden kunai into the kiri ninja's throat and dragging him into the alley.

"What the fuck?" Nami shrieked.

"Shut up!" said Naruto, shoving the body into a dumpster and leaning over, breathing deeply. His first kill. It didn't feel as good as he'd hoped. It felt… dirty. Naruto stood up straight and took a shaky breath, his eyes shut as tightly as he could get them.

"That's not going to get any easier," he mumbled, doing a Henge and transforming into the dead ninja. He looked at Nami who was staring at him in fear. "Go home."

She shook her head.

"I know you didn't like doing that," she said tearily. "That couldn't have been easy. Why do you want to be a ninja if you don't like killing?"

"Because," Naruto said, changing back for a moment and crouching down, looking at the floor. "If I don't kill people like him, then more people like you are gonna die for no reason. I have to protect the people who can't protect themselves. I'm going to be a sage someday and it's a Sage's job to protect the world from people who kill for fun or kill for money. I do it because someone has to. That's what my Dad taught me."

"Who is your dad?" she asked quietly.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin," said Naruto with an edge of determination. "The Toad Sage."

* * *

**Naruto is planning on breaking into Gato's base of operations! Will Nami stop him? Who was the Hunter-nin? Is this the end of Zabuza? Only time will tell!**

_Stupid site maintenance wouldn't let me upload for the longest time. Hope you liked this chapter.  
_


	11. Chapter 10: Wind vs Ice

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 10**

**Wind vs Ice**

"I guess there's really nothing I can do to convince you otherwise?" Nami asked Naruto quietly as he assumed the likeness of the dead ninja. He looked at her and shook his head.

"Why do you care so much?" asked Naruto. "You hardly even know me."

Nami looked down and shrugged.

"You seem to be a really kind person," she said. "You shared your food with us when you didn't even know us. You don't seem like the kind of person who would go around fighting and killing on a whim."

"I'm not doing this on a whim," he objected.

"I know," she snapped. "I know, it's just… a lot of the people here in Wave are scared. They don't act kindly to one another anymore. Now it's take what you can and don't let anyone else have it. Someone stole our food, and I know it wasn't Gato's men. It's just a bit refreshing you know? I just…."

"Go home," said Naruto. "This really isn't the safest place for you to be right now."

"Naruto," whispered Nami as the Henge'd Genin opened the front door to Gato Industries. "Be careful."

Naruto turned and shot her a grin before slowly walking in. She smiled slightly and ran down the street, taking shelter in an alley way and peeking around the corner to see if anything would happen.

The building was dimly lit and not very accommodating. He could have sworn that the ceiling was a bit low. He chalked it up to either Gato's vanity or bad architects. He figured it was the former.

He rounded a right corner and accidentally bumped into several thugs, who shied away from him and rushed off. They probably had bad experiences with the Kiri ninjas. Naruto continued on his way, passing by office workers and thugs alike, but he was yet to see a single ninja. He didn't like it.

He reached the end of the hallway he was on and saw it forked off in two directions. He saw a passing office aide and grabbed the back of her shirt. Gato was a man of Naruto's tastes he had to admit with a smirk. This woman was wearing a skimpy excuse for a pantsuit and was apparently forced to keep her shirt open to expose her cleavage.

"Which way to the midget's office?" Naruto hissed. The aide was shaking a bit at being addressed and pointed to the right. Naruto released her and continued on until he reached the end of this hallway and saw a short wooden door that he would have to bend under at his current height. How narcissistic could one man be? He pulled tested the doorknob and saw that it was locked, so he pulled out a pick and got to work.

"Akichi," said a voice behind him as he opened the door. He turned around and saw a rather skinny Kiri ninja staring at him. This one was wearing a grey camouflage flak jacket and a breathing mask. "The fuck are you doing?"

"Zabuza doesn't think the midget is paying us enough," said Naruto in a spot on imitation of the dead ninja he was posing as. "So he asked me to grab some files to hold for ransom when this stupid job is over with.

"Well, hurry up," said the Kiri ninja. "We just got word that Tazuna is back, and get this. His bodyguard on the bridge is some little brat."

"Fuck," said Naruto, feigning distress. "Looks like we're gonna have a hell of a battle on our hands."

The Kiri ninja laughed.

"Hell yeah. He might throw a wood kunai at me. Give me a splinter."

Naruto chuckled. That one was actually pretty good. He headed inside and started digging through anything he could, keeping an eye on the Kiri ninja staring at him. This guy was a Chunin at least. Naruto could probably handle him, but he wasn't too sure.

Eventually Naruto found a document labeled "Opiates". He looked through the file and it was a shipping ledger of his current opium trade in Wave, Tea, and Fire countries.

"Fucker is dealing opium all over the place," said Naruto. "This'll sell nicely to someone."

The Kiri ninja nodded and slowly pulled out a Kunai.

"Yeah it would," he said, his eyes narrowing. "But Akichi, as I recall, we are the ones who mule that shit all over the place. Isn't it odd that you seem to have just found out about it?"

Naruto stood up straight and threw three kunai at the ninja. The man narrowly avoided it and Naruto released the Henge, crouching on Gato's rather low desk with the file under his arm and his sword held in a reverse grip and glowing with wind chakra.

The ninja made a move and leapt to the desk. Naruto reacted quickly and ducked under the ninja, falling to the floor and spinning on his back, swinging out his sword and launching a blade of chakra at his attacker. The ninja was too late and paid for it with a slice into his back, severing his spine and killing him.

Naruto leapt to his feet and sped down the hallway running along the ceiling. He was shocked when multiple Kiri ninjas came down from the ceiling tiles. He counted three.

"_Fuck!"_ Naruto screamed in his mind. _"They've been watching me since I got here!"_

Naruto dropped to the floor and crouched in his low stance, avoiding several slashes from their ninjato blades and sliced through them with his wind chakra blade. He leapt back and summoned two shadow clones. The clones engaged the Kiri ninjas and Naruto leapt up through the ceiling tiles, opting to take the high road.

One of the ninjas escaped his clones as they killed his compatriots and gave chase. Naruto followed the path he took by memory and knew he was headed for the front entrance. He spun around and summoned a shadow clone that surprised the ninja chasing him and killed it, dispelling a second later. He ran through hand signs for his Wind Blade Jutsu and used it to destroy the wall in front of him, an explosion of bricks and dust rocking the street as Naruto leapt out of the fray with the files gripped in his teeth.

"I did it!" he cheered, though it was muffled by the folder.

"I don't think so," said a familiar voice. The hunter-nin from before suddenly phased in and struck at him with a fistful of senbon. Naruto used his momentum to change direction in the air and flip over the hunter-nin.

"What the fuck?" he screamed. "I thought you were on our side!"

"The only side I have is Zabuza-sama," he said, throwing more senbon at Naruto. Naruto avoided the needles and sliced them in half with wind chakra.

Naruto breathed slowly and held his sword at the ready, prepared to fight.

"It is not wise to fight me," said the hunter-nin. "I will kill you."

"What's your name?" asked Naruto.

"I am Haku," said the ninja. "A tool of Zabuza-sama. I know who you are already Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto grinned and performed the hand signs for summoning. He slapped his hand on the ground just as Haku threw more Senbon, which were blocked by Gama who appeared wearing bushido armor. Naruto went through more hand signs and summoned a smaller toad and handed it the folder, which it took in its mouth.

"Run that to Kakashi-sensei," he said. "I have some business here. And see if he can't send me some backup."

Haku attempted to his the toad with senbon, but it was too fast and leapt into some bushes. She tried to give chase but was blocked by Gama, with Naruto riding upon his back.

Naruto leapt off of Gama and spun in the air, aiming a kick at the imposter. Haku responded by leaping away from the kick and throwing more Senbon, but as the needles left his hand, Gama's swift tongue caught his wrist and lifted him from the ground.

Gama spun Haku around and threw him into the building like a ragdoll. Haku didn't have time to recover due to disorientation and crashed through the brick. When he regained his senses he leapt from the building only for Naruto to be in his face, goggles on and a snarl across his lips. Naruto head butted Haku hard, cracking the ninja's mask and sent him spiraling to the ground. Naruto tried to axe kick him, but Haku was already gone, leaping out of the dirt and rubble and backing away several feet. Naruto landed and ran through hand signs.

Haku spotted a bucket of water near a shop across the street and responded with his own hand signs and both of them released their jutsu's simultaneously.

"_Futon: Diatoppa!"_

"_Hyoton: Koori no Tate!"_

Naruto was shocked to see his jutsu blocked by a shield of ice suspended in front of Haku.

"Ice release?" he shouted.

"It is my Kekkei Genkai," said Haku, brandishing more senbon. "I was outcast for it you know. Until I was accepted by Zabuza-sama."

Naruto scoffed and jumped on top of Gama, crouching down.

"You go on and on about that sick fuck," said Naruto, glaring at Haku from behind his goggles. "But you're the one that killed him."

"Do not talk about Zabuza-sama in such a way," hissed Haku. "He is not dead. I merely put him in a state of false death. He is recovering as we speak. You should leave before you get yourself killed."

Naruto's expression was stern as he stared at Haku. So that was the power of those damned senbon. He knew about pressure points from talks with Shima.

"How about we agree to disagree," said Naruto, holding his hands in a placating gesture. "I got what I came for. What were you doing here?"

"I came to meet with Gato," said Haku. "To inform him of Zabuza-sama's current state. It appears you beat me to it."

"The little slime ball ain't here," said Naruto. "Or I'd be keeping his head on a keychain."

"Slime ball, am I?" screamed Gato from the doorway, fuming with rage and holding his pants up. "Here I am, on the shitter, and what do I hear? That sick piece of shit Zabuza is down and my files were stolen? And half my office is turned to _dust?_ My day is just getting better and better!"

Naruto reacted instantly and threw a kunai at Gato, who screamed before Haku appeared and caught the blade in his hand. He dropped the kunai and blood flowed freely from the wound.

Haku pulled off his mask and Naruto was shocked to see a girl standing in front of him. Haku, with unblinking, unfeeling eyes slowly licked the blood from the wound. Naruto knew that it was to be seen as a threat.

Naruto held up his sword and stared at Haku coldly.

"Go inside Gato-sama," said Haku. "I will take care of this."

"He's a leech," said Naruto. "Feeding off of the pain of others. Don't let him live."

"I do not care," said Haku. "I only care for—"

"Zabuza," Naruto interrupted. "Why don't you go choke on his little sword, and I don't mean that thing he carries on his back."

"How dare you?" Haku fumed, her expression changing from one of uncaring cruelty to one of unbridled rage. Naruto narrowed his eyes. He didn't like to speak like this, but he needed to get her angry.

"I dare," said Naruto. "Because I have people who accept me. I don't need to let some crazy dude fuck me every night to get some self-esteem. What is he, twenty years older than you? You can't be older than sixteen! He should be in jail!"

Haku took his taunting like a fish on a baited hook and ran at him at remarkable speeds.

Naruto leapt off of Gama to engage Haku, but she vanished from his vision, appearing behind him and kicking him hard in the back of the neck. Naruto cried out in pain and rolled along the ground. He caught himself and stood up, spinning around to receive a kick to the face.

Haku was pissed. Naruto spit out some blood and ran at Haku, his sword glowing with chakra, but she dodged his blows, punching him several times in the face and chest and hitting him with a roundhouse kick. Naruto sheathed his sword and ran at her low to the ground. She tried to jump around him but he leaned forward, catching himself on his hands and flipping upside down, spinning on his wrist and shooting his legs out in a windmill of furious kicks that Haku had to avoid.

Naruto bounced to his feet and threw a roundhouse at Haku that was blocked. Haku countered with a toss of four Senbon that Naruto blocked with his forearm. He hissed in pain as they penetrated the bone and stopped, sticking out of both sides of his arm, and leapt over her, flipping and kicking her in the back of the head, sending her fumbling.

Haku regained her footing, but was hit hard in the back with Naruto's Water Bullet jutsu. She threw several senbon at him but he was quick to avoid them, the ones from before still sticking through his bleeding arm.

Naruto kept the jutsu going and followed her with it as she ran from it, the surrounding area becoming drenched in water.

Haku grinned cruelly and ran through hand seals.

"_Sensatsu Suishō!"_

Naruto cursed as the water he'd spit was turned against him, transforming into one thousand senbon needles made of ice, turned in his direction. They rained down on him hard. Gama retreated into the damaged building and Naruto performed the Head Hunter jutsu, burying himself underground to avoid the projectiles.

"Stupid," spat Haku as the Senbon stopped and hovered over the ground, waiting for her enemy to emerge. Naruto instead dug himself into the building behind Gama.

"She hasn't seen me," he whispered to the toad. "I'll send some clones down there to throw her off; you keep watch for me while I find Gato."

The toad nodded and Naruto summoned five clones that performed the headhunter jutsu burying under Haku and bursting up from the ground and different times only to go back down, like an idiotic and deadly game of Whack-a-mole .

Naruto ran into Gato's office to find the place deserted. He sent out several clones to locate the greedy bastard, but all of them came up empty. Naruto burst into the men's bathroom and saw two goons shoving Gato through a window.

"God dammit!" Naruto shouted, killing the thugs with his kunai and busting the wall with Wind Cutter. When he came out of the smoke he saw that Gato was climbing into a boat some distance away. Naruto handn't noticed the proximity to the water hoped to god that Haku didn't either or that Ice Release would make life much harder for him.

By the time he got there, Gato had already gotten in the boat and was speeding across the water as fast as he could towards one of his cargo ships.

"Fuck fuck fuck!" Naruto shouted, stomping on the ground. There was no way he was boarding a ship that big by himself right now, not with Haku on his ass.

Speaking of, the memories of his clones alerted him to the fact that the last one had been destroyed and when he turned around, Haku was staring at him with the most violent glare he had ever seen… aside from Tsunade's occasional looks at Jiraiya.

"Now Gama!" Naruto shouted. Gama burst up from the roof of the building and grabbed Haku with his tongue before she could react and threw her into the air. Naruto summoned ten clones and surrounded Haku in the air. They began systematically beating her with all they had.

"Na—" one of them shouted, kicking her in the face and sending her flying back.

"Ru—" another shouted axe kicking her left shoulder and sending her spiraling to the ground.

"To—" the real one shouted, standing on one hand with a leg stuck straight into the air, with which Haku landed forcefully on her hip, causing her spine to bend at an awkward angle and the kunoichi to gasp out and scream in pain.

Naruto launched her in the air as Gama leapt above her, all eleven Naruto's axe kicking the Toad's armored back, sending him down to body slam her into the ground behind the office building.

"_Uzumaki-Gama Combination Barrage!"_

Gama hopped off of Haku, who struggled to stand through her obvious pain and many broken bones.

Naruto was squatting on the roof of the building, watching her as she stared at him with intent hatred. She put her hands together in an unfamiliar seal.

"_Makyō Hyōshō!" _She shouted, water from the river bursting from the sea to surround Naruto. The water froze solid and became a dome of rectangular mirrors, surrounding Naruto.

Naruto ran through hand signs and used Wind Cutter to slice through the mirrors in front of him and leapt from them before Haku could use them for whatever she'd intended.

"Gama!" Naruto shouted. The toad whipped its tongue around Haku's waist and lifted her in the air and threw her at Naruto. Naruto met her in the air and drove his heel hard into her stomach, making her cough up spit and blood and driving her into the ground.

Naruto crouched over her unconscious form, panting heavily and bleeding from multiple wounds. He grabbed one of the senbon embedded in his arm and yanked it out with a pained moan.

He looked at Gama who was croaking at him sympathetically.

"See that Gama?" he said. "My first real one on one fight to the death and I won!"

He started laughing pitifully as he grabbed Haku and dragged her onto the toad's back.

"I killed 'em," he said quietly, climbing onto the toad and staring out into the water. "I killed 'em…."

"Naruto," said a quiet voice. He turned to see Nami slowly walking towards him, a bit wary of the giant toad he was on. "You're bleeding really badly… you should see a doctor…"

Naruto shook his head.

"I've gotta take Haku to my sensei for interrogation," he said, yanking out another Senbon with a grimace and a hiss of pain. "My team mate Sakura will fix me up."

"I'll come with you," she said, frowning.

"Why do you care so much?" Naruto asked a bit harshly.

"Be nice," said Gama, making Nami jump back in surprise.

"He talks!" she squealed. "The frog talks!"

"Toad!" shouted both Gama and Naruto, making her cringe.

"Sorry," said Naruto. "You can come I guess, just… we'll tell my team you were caught in the crossfire or something. I already have a reputation, I don't need them thinking I'm dragging random girls home."

"Reputation?" she asked slowly.

Naruto giggled and patted the pouch containing his precious research.

* * *

Naruto had Haku bound in Gama's tongue as Nami clutched the back of his robe, the three of them bounding swiftly over the roofs of the village. Nami was whimpering with each leap of Gama's powerful legs, villagers stopping to look and point at the giant toad leaping from roof top to roof top. Eventually they made it to Tazuna's house to see Sakura running out .

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Did you get the files I sent with the toad?"

"Yeah," she said. "Kakashi-sensei is reading them right now… Oh my god what happened to you?"

"Turns out that that fucker Zabuza is still alive," Naruto said, spitting a bit of blood on the ground. "Now could you please help me? I'm gonna bleed out."

Sakura looked him over and her eyes widened considerably.

"Naruto, you don't seem to have a scratch on you, aside from the senbon in your arm."

"Well they hurt like hell," he snapped.

"Naruto," said Kakashi, stepping out of the house on a crutch. "I see you brought some friends with you."

"Yeah," said Naruto. "The one Gama is holding is that Hunter-nin. She didn't kill Zabuza, she saved him!"

"I thought as much," said Kakashi. "It's too bad I didn't see it sooner. She gave you trouble?"

"Sensei," Naruto said coldly. "I have senbon in my arm and I brought down half a building. I'm actually doing pretty well."

Kakashi chuckled and walked up to his student, grabbing both senbon and yanking them out in one swift motion causing Naruto to wail in pain. Sakura quickly applied a bandage.

"Who's this?" Kakashi asked, motioning to the girl climbing off of Gama.

"This is Nami," said Naruto. "She saw the fight go down."

"Maybe you should start from the beginning."

* * *

That night, Sakura tended to Haku's wounds and confiscated her weapons and clothing, leaving her in nothing but bandages and some clothes provided by Tazuna. She was unconscious on the couch while they ate dinner that evening and Sasuke was put in charge of watching her until she woke up.

Nami didn't stay for too long, but Tazuna insisted that she bring some food home for her brother and mother.

"You guys are really kind," she said as they sat around the table, eating quietly. "I didn't know dinner with ninja could be so welcoming."

"You should see our parties," said Naruto, stuffing his face with ramen. Nami giggled at the bandaged and clean Genin. "I wonder how long it'll take for Zabuza to get back into action."

"Two weeks," mumbled Haku from the couch. Her arms and hands were bound, keeping her from performing hand signs or attacking anyone. She just rolled on her side towards the back of the couch and spoke quietly. "I was supposed to be taking care of him. But without my medical skills, he won't be coming for two weeks."

"Well then," said Kakashi. "I'll definitely be back to my old self by then. And it gives Sasuke and Sakura plenty of time to train."

"What about me Sensei?" asked Naruto.

"You're ready for anything from what I've seen," said Kakashi, peering at his student. "But if you really need something to do, help Tazuna build the bridge."

"Good idea!" said Naruto. "I'll make an army of shadow clones and build the damned thing myself if I have to!"

"That's a super good attitude," said a drunken Tazuna.

"So," said Kakashi, walking over to Haku. "Let's go upstairs and have a little talk."

He picked her up in one arm and carried her up the stairs.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura," he said. "You can join me in interrogation if you want."

"I'm good," said Naruto, finishing his dinner and putting his dishes in the sink. "I'll walk Nami home."

"I'll come with you Kakashi," said Sasuke.

"I'm going to take a bath," said Sakura.

Everyone nodded and went on their way.

As Naruto and Nami stepped outside and were about to leave, someone called out to him.

"How?" asked a young voice. They turned around to see Inari standing there. "How could you go try and fight Gato? Weren't you scared?"

"Nah," said Naruto. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know," said Inari. "I just… the last person I saw stand up to Gato died… it was my dad."

Naruto's expression softened.

"Listen kid," he said. "Sometimes standing up for what you believe in can get you killed. But that doesn't matter."

Inari looked up at Naruto quickly, his face a picture of confusion.

"Because," said Naruto. "If you can leave a legacy behind, your cause won't die. And whoever you leave behind can kick twice as much ass for you!"

Inari stared at him for a few seconds and went back into the house.

"That was a really cool thing to say," said Nami with a smile. Naruto shrugged.

"It's something my dad said once."

The two of them walked off silently into the night.

* * *

Haku looked up from her spot in the chair she was bound to, Kakashi sitting in front of her with his legs crossed. Sasuke was standing by the door, watching them intently.

"So," said Kakashi with a smile. "Your name is Haku?"

"Yes," said their captive. "I am Zabuza-sama's loyal tool."

"How did you meet Zabuza?"

"He found me when I was alone as a small child and took me in. He taught me how to be a shinobi."

"So Zabuza is the only friend you've had?"

"I am not his friend," she snapped. "I am his tool. His weapon. His right hand."

"You seem to care for Zabuza very much," said Kakashi, his expression still remaining in that light hearted eye smile.

"He is all I have," said Haku.

"Well," said Sasuke. "Why should we believe that he will be back in only two weeks then?"

"It is my estimate," said Haku. "I could be wrong, but I never am. Zabuza-sama will have to take care of himself for the time being."

"You have many broken bones and injuries," said Kakashi. "You wouldn't be of much use to him as you are. Wouldn't he just dispose of a broken tool?"

"N-no," stuttered Haku, obviously growing uncomfortable. "Never."

"Admit it," said Kakashi quietly, still smiling. "If you were really his tool, you wouldn't be worth shit."

"Stop it," hissed Haku.

"What is he to you?"

"Everything!" shouted Haku, her eyes wide and distressed.

"Then help us!" shouted Kakashi, his face changing to one of anger. "We don't need to fight anyone!"

"What?" said Haku, obviously confused.

"You are completely useless in a fight as you are," said Kakashi. "So you pose no immediate threat to me or my team."

"What are you getting at?"

"I want you to convince Zabuza to call off his attack."

"What?" said both Sasuke and Haku, looking at Kakashi. Kakashi held up three fingers.

"I will release you in three days," he said. "Then you will walk back to your base and tell Zabuza to call this off. No one has to die."

He got up before Haku could reply and chopped her in the back of the neck, knocking her out cold.

"Watch her Sasuke," said Kakashi.

"Are you sure she'd be able to do anything?" asked the Uchiha.

"No," said Kakashi. "But we aren't equipped to hold a prisoner for two weeks."

"So you just want her gone?"

"More or less," said the Jounin, walking out of the room. "She's not worth keeping when Naruto's practically crippled her."

Sasuke looked over at Haku and his eyes widened.

"_How strong are you," _he thought. _"Naruto?"_

* * *

"So," said Naruto a bit awkwardly as they walked through the darkened streets of Wave. "Where do you live?"

"I live on a farm near the beach," she said. "We eat what we can grow, but more and more people have been stealing our vegetables. I'll have to thank Tazuna-san for the food again later."

"Do you know Tazuna?" asked Naruto.

"Everyone does," she said with a smile. "He's just as nice as you are. He helps whoever he can."

"That's good," Naruto said with a smile.

"His son in law," she said. "Inari-kun's dad was even kinder than he was."

"Really?" Naruto asked. "What happened to him?"

They walked on in silence as she recounted the story from only two years ago. Around the time Naruto had met Gato himself.

Apparently Inari's dad was considered an icon in Wave for his kindness and bravery in the face of crisis. When Gato showed up and started undermining the people and their economy, Inari's father Kaiza was the first one to stand up to him. It ended in his crucifixion and execution at the hand of the tycoon and his thugs.

Thing's hadn't been the same since. Inari was depressed and the atmosphere and general attitude of the country was at an all time low.

"You remind me of that guy," said Nami with a smile. "You could end up changing thing here. I guess that's why I keep on following you around."

"Don't do it too much," said Naruto jokingly. "I might get creeped out."

She giggled and shoved him to the side, getting a laugh out of him. Their walk was uneventful, they walked passed a few of the homeless denizens of Wave Country, but they were undisturbed, laughing and joking and talking about anything and everything they had to talk about.

When they got to Nami's house they said their goodbyes.

"It was really good meeting you Naruto," she said with a light smile. "What are you doing tomorrow?"

"I'm gonna be at the bridge helping Tazuna," said Naruto. "Why don't you come by and hang out with me?"

"Alright," she said happily. "I'll see you tomorrow Naruto."

"Bye," he said, waving and walking away from her, smiling. When he heard her door close he smiled broadly and his cheeks turned a bit red.

* * *

"Where is she?" Zabuza screamed from his bed, strangling one of his ninja underlings. "Where is Haku?"

"We don't know!" said one of the ninjas, cowering by Zabuza's door. "We haven't seen her since she left!"

"Bring me Gato!" Zabuza roared, crushing the ninja's windpipe and killing him. "Bring me that slimy piece of shit _**now!**_"

* * *

**Haku is now a prisoner under the Konoha shinobi! Gato is missing! Zabuza is pissed! And our little Naruto seems to have his first crush! What will become of these developments? Only time will tell!**

_A bit late on this chapter by about twelve hours. I decided sleep was a priority. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!_


	12. Chapter 11: Building Bridges

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 11**

**Building Bridges**

"I can't believe this," cackled Tazuna as about one hundred Naruto's ran around using superior strength and speed to assist in building the bridge. There were whisker marked blondes running all over the place, carrying lumber and metal to the actual workers, keeping watch for Gato's thugs or any ninja attacks and even bringing lunch for the workers. "Our production rate has quadrupled! This is the best thing to happen since I discovered whiskey!"

"That's really high up on your list isn't it?" the real Naruto grumbled next to him, sitting cross legged on Gama's back while he meditated on his chakra control. Gamakichi was sitting in his lap, snacking on some bugs Naruto had caught with him that morning.

"Don't lip me!" snapped Tazuna. Gama released a croaking chuckle.

"Maybe Kakashi should know how the bridge is going," said Gamakichi, nodding wisely.

"I'll send a shadow clone to Kakashi-sensei to deliver a status report," said the Genin, summoning a clone and sending it towards his Sensei.

They had been at this for the last two days and the bridge was quickly nearing completion. Naruto had spent his time with Tazuna focusing entirely on learning better chakra control and practicing his Fuuinjutsu. Jiraiya had given him a work book to do during down time so he could learn a bit while on missions and it was serving him well. He was currently working on a new seal, but refused to tell anyone what it was.

At the same time, Kakashi had put Sasuke and Sakura to work on the tree climbing exercise in the woods to help their chakra control and hopefully boost their stamina. Sakura had finished on her first try, but Sasuke was still working at it, improving slowly with each try.

"Naruto-kun!" yelled a voice behind them. Naruto dropped his meditation and turned around, grinning as Nami ran up to him with a basket in her hands. Gamakichi groaned audibly and rolled his eyes. "Tsunami-san had me bring lunch for you both."

"Thanks," said Naruto, pulling out some sealed bowls of soup and handing one to Tazuna with a plastic spoon. The two of them opened their bowls and inhaled the smell of the soup. Fish stew with veggies and a fresh baked loaf of bread. They grinned at eachother and dug in, Nami, climbing onto Gama's back to eat her own lunch, some soup and bread. Tsunami had made extra for her.

The four of them ate in silence for a while until Naruto broke it.

"Tsunami-san is a really good cook," said Naruto.

"I don't know how you can eat that," said Gamakichi, popping a grub into his mouth and croaking in delight. Naruto flicked the back of his head and they glared at eachother.

"Her mother taught her," said Tazuna. "I can't cook worth shit myself."

Naruto chuckled and looked back at Nami.

"You like sitting on Gama?" he asked her.

"We aren't chairs," snapped Gamakichi, glaring in Nami's direction. "Not just anyone can meditate with toads."

"Shut up," said Naruto. Gamakichi croaked at him indignantly. "What is your problem?"

"Nothing," said Gamakichi, returning to his snack. "Nothing at all."

"Are you sure Gamakichi-chan?" asked Nami, looking over Naruto's shoulder. Gamakichi glared at her and she winced, sitting back down on Gama and eating some bread.

"So," she said after swallowing. "With your clones doing all the work, what are you up to?"

"Well," said Naruto. "I suppose I can tell you guys if you don't tell Sasuke because the moment he finds out he's going to be demanding I do it for him too."

"You can't just tell everybody!" said Gamikichi hotly. "If everybody knows then it's useless in a fight! You're too trusting of _certain people_."

"It's okay Gamakichi," croaked Naruto, patting the toad a bit too roughly on the head. "Nami and Tazuna are cool, so do you guys wanna hear about it?"

"It's a bad idea," said Gamakichi, but Naruto shoved him into his robe.

"What is it?" said Tazuna, drinking the rest of his soup and placing the container back in the basket.

Naruto drank the rest of his soup as well and tossed his bowl in with Tazuna's.

"I'm making a seal," he said. "To put all over my body. It'll react to a certain hand seal and I can charge chakra into the seal. It'll either make my body lighter or heavier depending on the hand seal."

"Chakra?" said Nami with a bit of confusion.

"Ignorant!" yelled Gamakichi from inside of Naruto's robes. "I told you!"

Naruto slapped his chest, silencing the little toad.

"Ninja magic," said Tazuna, getting Naruto to croak indignantly and puff out his cheeks.

"No!" he yelled, shaking his fist. "It's the life energy in our bodies that can be used to perform jutsu!"

"Ninja magic," said Nami, taking another bite of her bread.

"Screw you guys," said Naruto, crossing his arms. "I'mma bring sealing back! I'm gonna make it the greatest ninja art ever seen!"

"You're starting to sound like a diabolical wizard," said Nami blandly while she placed her bowl in the basket and picked it up, brushing crumbs off of her shirt. Naruto glared at her with disdain. Nami giggled and waved at them, running back to Tazuna's house to drop off the basket and dishes.

"She's cute," said Tazuna, stretching as one of his workers brought him some schematics.

"If you're into… brown hair… and boobs," grumbled Gamakichi, poking his head out of Naruto's shirt. He was in an incredibly bad mood lately.

"Yeah," said Naruto with a light blush, ignoring Gamakichi.

"Careful brat," said Tazuna. "Women are dangerous. They may seem sweet and innocent one second, and then boom! You're a daddy, and then bam! A granddaddy and then super whazam! You've got ninja's after your life and you're too drunk to figure out why!"

"Tazuna-san," said Naruto slowly. "Are you hiding a flask on you?"

"Shut up."

"I know what you mean about crazy women though. I've had my fair share."

* * *

Sakura was sitting on top of a branch in the forest while she gave Sasuke pointers on tree climbing. She was humming to herself and kicking her legs when she had a sneezing fit and fell out of the tree. Haku was sitting next to Kakashi on the forest floor and began giggling at Sakura's tumble.

"What's so funny?" screeched the pinkette, rubbing her butt painfully as she staggered to her feet.

"What's funny," said Haku. "Is you Konoha shinobi's amazing strength yet horrible clumsiness."

Kakashi looked over at Haku in surprise. The two of them were sitting cross legged against a tree. They didn't trust Haku by herself in the house with just Tsunami and Inari.

"Your mood seems to have improved," said Kakashi. Haku cleared her throat and looked at some bushes nearby.

"I am your prisoner," she said. "So I have to make the best of it."

"That's a shitty attitude," said Naruto as he leapt in from the trees above, landing in a crouch.

"Naruto," said Sakura loudly. "You're supposed to be protecting Tazuna-san."

"Don't worry Sakura," said Kakashi. "This is just a shadow clone."

"How can you make so many of those copies?" demanded Haku. She obviously still hated Naruto for beating her to a pulp.

"Trade secret," said Naruto who scratched the back of his head. "The bridge is going smoothly sensei. Tazuna-san said it should be done within the next few days."

"Good," said Kakashi. "If the bridge is finished then Zabuza will have no qualm with us."

"Untrue," said Haku. "Zabuza-sama wants to fight you again Kakashi-san. Badly. He will hunt you to the ends of the earth until you are dead."

"That's depressing," said the Jounin.

"Even if he doesn't get paid?" asked Naruto. Haku nodded.

"Good," said Sasuke from the highest branch of the tree he was told to climb. "We'll be ready for him. Without you backing him up, it'll be a cakewalk."

"Don't be overconfident Sasuke," said Kakashi. "It'll more than likely get you killed."

"I know I'm not on your level sensei," said Sasuke, sitting on the tree branch. So he had learned some humility. "But I can at least back you up."

"That's all I ask," said Kakashi with a smile.

"You people," said Haku, looking in between the four of them. "You are so… different."

"We're a team," said Naruto-clone, grabbing Sakura into a one armed hug. She glared evilly at him. "If we can't get along then we can't work together."

Sakura tried to punch the clone but he avoided it to keep himself from dispelling and having Naruto send a new one to scream at Sakura for wasting his time and making his point invalid.

"Are all leaf ninjas like this?" Haku asked Kakashi, who smiled.

"All of them," said Kakashi. "Even the Hokage."

"Your leader?"

"Hokage-jiji is awesome!" said Naruto, throwing his fists into the air and stamping around happily. "He buys me and Dad dinner sometimes when we share our research with him!"

"Research?" asked Haku. "Are you and your father weapons or jutsu developers?"

"Don't ask," called Sasuke. "You really don't want to know."

"They are authors," said Kakashi uneasily, scratching the back of his head.

"So Konoha is culturally diverse," said Haku. "Zabuza-sama and I come from Kirigakure. It is awful there."

"How bad is it?" asked Sakura, sitting across from Haku and their teacher. Naruto and Sasuke soon joined them. It had become a quirk of team seven to sit in circles with their legs crossed during team meetings and training sessions. Haku looked in between them a bit sadly. Not even Zabuza-sama would sit with her and talk like this.

"I have a kekkei genkai," she said. "Ice Release. The Mizukage has a policy where anyone with a Kekkei Genkai must be killed on sight, no questions asked. It's sparked a civil war in the Water Country and the side with kekkei genkai is losing. Zabuza-sama despises the Mizukage and his anti-bloodline policies, so he left, and took all of his followers with him. If Zabuza-sama stops Tazuna-san from finishing his bridge and kills you Kakashi –san, he'll have enough money to start a new faction, bring himself into the war and destroy the Mizukage's sick establishment."

She'd gotten excited during her little speech and cleared her throat.

"We've been in talks with the new village Otogakure and its Otokage to back us up since the Rice Country is close to Water Country."

"Who is the Otokage?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know," said Haku. "I don't know his name, but I've met the man, and he's the most terrifying creature I've ever seen."

* * *

"So," said the Otokage, stepping slowly across Zabuza's bedroom, the missing-nin staring at the new arrival with a cold hard glare. "I managed to get here within a few days, and I brought my apprentice. His medical skills should get you out of bed quick enough. Now, tell me again about this Kakashi you mentioned in your letter. You say he has a Sharingan?"

"Yes," said Zabuza, staring right into the golden slitted eyes belonging to his would-be ally. "There's also an Uchiha on his team. I know because the kid wore their insignia on his back."

"Interesting," said the Otokage, licking his chops at the idea of getting his hands on full pair of Sharingan eyes. "What's in it for me if I help you?"

"You can have their eyes," said Zabuza. "I just want to kill Kakashi myself! Please! Otokage-sama!"

"We have an agreement," said the Otokage deviously. "But please. You may call me Orochimaru."

"I'm here!" griped Gato, walking in angrily. "Your little helper was no help to me at all Zabuza!"

Zabuza lurched forward and reached for Gato, his killing intent washing over the room and causing Gato to scream and stumble back, clutching at his chest. Orochimaru put a cold pale hand on Zabuza's arm, causing the missing-nin to look up at the Snake Sannin.

"Now now," said Orochimaru, pushing Zabuza's arms down. "Do not exert yourself too much. Now Gato-san, would you care to explain what happened?"

"Some kid on a giant fucking toad happened!" screeched Gato from his spot on the floor.

"Toad?" said Orochimaru with interest. "What did the child look like?"

"He was a short blonde kid with lines on his cheeks," whimpered Gato, still cowering under Zabuza's stare. "He and Zabuza's partner fought, but I don't know what happened. I got on a cargo ship and came here immediately."

Orochimaru stared at Gato for a long time, a frown marking his face. After a few moments of silence, the frown became a sinister smile, and Orochimaru began to laugh. And laugh. And laugh.

* * *

"This is bad," said Naruto. "There's no way that Otokage will let us waltz out of here alive."

"So?" said Sasuke. "We'll just have to stay and fight."

"It won't be that simple," said Kakashi. "If Zabuza returns with a single Jounin, we might not make it out of here."

"So what do we do?" asked Sakura, looking in between her teammates.

"We'll just have to call for backup," said Kakashi. "Naruto, summon the fastest toad you know."

"Got it," said Naruto, summoning a small red toad named Kosuke to his side.

Kakashi took out a sealing scroll.

"The files on Gato's opium trading is in this," he said. He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small pad and pencil, writing down a quick note. "Take this scroll and note to the Hokage, and no one else."

"Got it," said Kosuke, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"What did that note say?" asked Naruto.

"It was a call for backup," said Kakashi. "I have a feeling that the battle for the bridge may get a bit intense."

"And our last fight with Zabuza wasn't?" said Sakura sarcastically.

"Oh be quiet," said Naruto, putting his hands behind his head. "We'll be fine. Maybe the Hokage will be extra cool and send a bunch of ANBU!"

"Maybe," said Kakashi. He really hoped they didn't send Maito Gai.

* * *

When Nami got home that night, she brought dinner for her mother and sister again. This time it was shrimp dumplings and a salad for each of them.

"Mom!" she called as she entered the house. "Tazuna-san gave us dinner again!"

"That's wonderful," said a middle aged woman, plump with graying hair from the front room. She looked to be sweeping while her brother played with a few toys. "They've been so kind to us. Our vegetables will be back soon though, so we'll be able to repay the favors."

"That's good," said Nami, laying on the couch and picking up a book. It was an adventure novel she'd borrowed from her uncle down the road, about a ninja trying to break the curse that was constantly talked about in the book. _Tale of the Gutsy Ninja._

"You like books like that?" her mother asked, reading over her shoulder.

"Not really," she said. "But you remember the accident at Gato's office?"

"Yes," said her mother. "Ninjas from another country went after Gato. I'd never wish death on anyone, but I hope they can at least run him out of here."

"Me too," said Nami. She hadn't told her mother about Naruto. He'd made her promise to keep his mission a secret. She continued her reading. "I heard a ninja wrote this book."

"I didn't know ninjas wrote books," her mother said, resuming her sweeping.

"Yea," said Nami, turning the page. "Uncle Inoh said it was written by one of the strongest ninjas in the Leaf. Jiraiya."

"Oh I've heard of him," her mother said, sounding a bit judgmental. "He writes dirty books! I hope that isn't one of them!"

"No," said Nami quickly. "This was written way before that."

"I'll take your word for it," said her mother. "Why are you so fascinated with ninjas? Because of what happened to Gato?"

"No," said Nami, shifting into a more comfortable position. "I just wonder if there are any ninjas like the guy in this book. A… Mom, what's the word for a person who has like… ideas where only good and cool stuff like heroics are the right thing?"

"An idealist?"

"Yeah," she said. "I wonder if there are any idealist ninjas."

"There could be," said her mother. "But I don't want to see my little girl being romanced by some ninja."

Nami giggled and continued reading.

* * *

The next day, Naruto was meditating on the bridge again with Gamakichi in his lap.

"Hey Naruto," said Gamakichi. "Do you… like girls?"

"Of course," said Naruto, his eyes shut.

"Well... would you ever… forget about me because of a girl?"

"No," said Naruto, looking down into his lap. "What would make you think that? Is that why you've been so bitchy lately?"

"I don't know," said the toad sounding depressed. "We've been buddies as long as I can remember, and now you've got eyes for that girl. She's not even a toad!"

"I'm not a toad!" said Naruto.

"Yeah, toads aren't that ugly!"

"I'll kill you!" Naruto tried to smack Gamakichi but the toad latched onto his face causing them both to tumble off of Gama's back. Gama silently rolled his eyes.

Naruto and Gamakichi rolled around on the ground for a bit until Naruto finally managed to pull him off.

"What the hell is your problem?" shouted Naruto.

"What's your problem?" Gamakichi shouted back.

"You started this!"

"I'll finish it!"

They stared at eachother for a moment and Naruto dropped Gamakichi onto the ground and they stared at each other for a moment before turning back to back.

"You're jealous," said Naruto.

"You're a traitor," said Gamakichi.

"Why would you even think that?" croaked Naruto, rounding on the small toad, who turned back to him.

"Girls!" said Gamakichi coldly. "They ruin everything!"

"They do not!" said Naruto. "They are the ultimate pass time."

"You would think that you peeper."

"You always peep with me!"

"That was before you actually liked a girl!"

"Grow up!"

"I'm four inches tall!"

"Yeah, that's why you can't eat anything bigger than a pillbug!"

"Shut up! My food is a lot better than your shitty ramen!"

Naruto went wide eyed. That was a low blow.

"You shut your mouth," said Naruto, inching as close to Gamakichi's face as he could.

"I'd say the same but you're always sucking in those slimy, smelly, shitty noodles."

Naruto was shaking now. Gamakichi smirked, knowing he'd won. He turned around and began hopping towards Tazuna's house.

"Come and see me when you've decided to come back to the men's side of the bath house!"

Naruto crossed his arms and sighed.

"What was that about?" said Sakura, who was walking with Nami towards Naruto.

"Nothing," Naruto snapped. "Gamakichi is just being an asshole."

"He doesn't seem to like me very much," said Nami, watching the little toad hop across the bridge.

"Ignore him," said Naruto. "What 's up?"

"We brought lunch," said Sakura. "I'm finished with my training and Sasuke is doing water walking exercises with Kakashi-sensei."

"That's cool," said Naruto, taking a sandwich from Sakura and digging into it. His mood was just plain sour today.

"Are you sure you're okay?" asked Nami.

"I'm fine!" he snapped, staring at his sandwich.

Nami wasn't convinced, but let the issue drop, joining the two Genin for lunch.

* * *

"You are very talented Uchiha-san," said Haku with a light smile as she watched him run laps around the surface of a pond by Tazuna's house.

"Thanks," said Sasuke, not looking at her.

"It's a good thing too," said Kakashi. "I got a very talented team. I hardly have to teach them anything."

Kakashi's nose was buried in his book as usual. Haku noticed the title and figured she'd have to find a copy for herself if it was that good.

"I'm glad I won't have to fight again then," said Haku with a light laugh.

"How the hell did Naruto beat you so badly anyway?" asked Sasuke.

"His team work with that toad was remarkable," she said bluntly. "I didn't stand a chance after he got me angry."

"He got you mad?" asked Sasuke, looking at her and stopping for a break and a drink of water. "If he has any talent, it's there."

"You respect him?" asked Haku.

"I didn't always," replied Sasuke, sitting next to her and looking at the pond. "But he got into my head one day, and it ended up with us fighting and his dad treating our class to lunch. Don't ask me how."

Haku giggled at that.

"After he convinced me to work with him during our final test to become Genin," said Sasuke slowly. "He showed me what it's all about. Don't get me wrong."

"What?" asked Haku with a quizzical expression.

"I don't plan on being a team player forever," he said. "I just need to get strong so I can get revenge on the guy that killed my clan."

"So you're an avenger," said Haku with a laugh.

"What's so funny?" asked Sasuke, glaring at her.

"Oh nothing," said Haku, waving her hand. "It's just that… you remind me of Zabuza-sama. He's an avenger too. You just lack the murderous intent."

"You calling me weak?"

"Not at all," said Haku, looking into the water with a serene look on her face. "You have a goal, just like him. But you aren't a murderer. You have what it takes Uchiha-san. I believe that. But you lack the cold blooded killing intent that a real avenger needs."

"Killing intent is well and good," said Kakashi. He'd been watching their exchange closely. "But you don't need to be cold blooded. Do I look cold blooded to you?"

"No," said Sasuke, looking at his sensei.

"Does the Hokage seem cold blooded?"

"No," said Sasuke.

"Listen to me when I say this Sasuke," said Kakashi. "And do not take this advice for granted. Never forsake a friend's hand when it is offered to you. And never give up on the power of a comrade. Strength in numbers is how a ninja works. Even Zabuza knows this."

"It's true," said Haku.

"Yes," said Kakashi, clearing his throat. "Cold bloodedness may work for some. But it won't work for the shinobi of the Hidden Leaf. Our power comes from each other. Its how every Hokage we've had thinks. Its how we've come out on top of every war we've gone into. Remember Sasuke. Our bonds are what make us people. I know you want revenge on your brother. But you won't get there alone. Someday you will be strong enough to confront him. And I hope you'll allow me, Naruto and Sakura to be by your side when that day comes."

Haku stared at Sasuke for a while as the Uchiha watched the water as he mulled over Kakashi's words. Then he stood up.

"Thanks Sensei," said Sasuke, turning to look at Kakashi. "I'm going to get back to training."

"Mhm," grunted Kakashi, returning to his book. Haku watched Sasuke run out onto the water.

"_These Leaf Shinobi,"_ she thought to herself. _"Are strange. I hope Zabuza-sama will listen to me. I leave tonight after all."_

She looked down at her bandaged body. She also hoped the Leaf sent adequate backup. Gato was not worth her time, or Zabuza's time any more.

* * *

**Several Days Later**

Jiraiya and Tsunade stood side by side in the Hokage's office as Sarutobi went over Kakashi's letter for the third time. Kosuke sat on his desk patiently, croaking as the midmorning heat began to fill the room. The files containing information on Gato's opium trade were sitting next to an opened sealing scroll, Sarutobi's pipe smoking idly from its ashtray.

"So," said Sarutobi. "As you've read in those files and in this note, it appears I've unwittingly sent Kakashi and his team of Genin on an A-ranked mission. Obviously, I can't help but look at you here Jiraiya, as I could have sworn that we had a spy network for this kind of thing."

Jiraiya didn't falter under his sensei's venomous attack on his skills as an informant for Konoha. This was partially his fault as all of his efforts lately had been focused on Orochimaru's whereabouts and nothing else. Well, there was a group Orochimaru had ties with for several years, but he didn't have enough to go on to make it a concern for Sarutobi.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama," said Jiraiya. "But my eyes have not been trained on Gato or Wave Country. My primary concern has been Orochimaru."

"Not anymore," said Sarutobi. "Right now your prime concern is the safety of my ninja, including your son. "

"What are your orders?" said Tsunade, crossing her arms. Normally she would ignore a summons from her old sensei, but when it concerned her Naruto, it was paramount.

"From what we've found out in the last year," said Sarutobi, tossing them a folder. "Is that Zabuza Momochi has entered talks with Otogakure over the conflicts in Kirigakure no Sato. It seems that the Mizukage has gone so mad that he is slaughtering anyone with kekkei genkai. Otagakure wants those kekkei genkai, so Zabuza wants them to enter the conflict and overthrow the Mizukage. While his intentions are noble, it appears that Gato is in on this deal. I want you two to investigate personally. Rendezvous with Team 7 at the bridge being built by Tazuna. If you hurry you can be there in three days. Now go!"

The two Sannin nodded and vanished as they Body Flickered away.

"Who are you Otokage?" whispered Sarutobi, reading through information reports. Needless to say, the Professor had a bad feeling.

* * *

**It looks like the Hokage is sending some major reinforcements! Will they be enough to stop Orochimaru and Zabuza? Will Gato be brought to justice? Will Gamakichi and Naruto ever be friends again? Only time will tell!**

_102 reviews 150 favorites and 205 story alerts? I'm really happy you guys like this story so much. Not only that, the feedback I've received has really shaped the story into what it is today. If you have any ideas, any at all, please do not hesitate to leave them in a review or in a PM!_

_Sorry for the late post. I'll have the next chapter up tomorrow. Until then!_


	13. Chapter 12: Battle for the Bridge

**Naruto: Sage of Konoha**

**Chapter 12**

**Battle for the Bridge**

It was done. The bridge was finally completed. Through the blood, sweat and tears of Tazuna, his workers, and Team Seven, the bridge had reached its final stages quickly, and eventually, it was complete.

Tazuna, Nami and Team 7 were standing on the end of the bridge with the workers, staring at the border of the Land of Fire with unrestrained joy. The celebrations were on. A raid of one of Gato's ships by Team Seven fuelled the party, providing them with food and drink for them and their families. The party was loud and it was long, lasting through the night.

The mood on the day after completion was melancholy to say the least. Everyone was there to say goodbye to Haku, who was still recovering from her injuries at the hands of Naruto.

Despite their less than favorable meeting, she had come to enjoy the company of the Konoha shinobi. They had been kinder to her than she had deserved, and they knew it, but they held no ill will towards her. She even liked Naruto, for what it was worth.

"Goodbye Haku," said Kakashi, strapping the backpack containing her equipment onto her shoulders. "I'm entrusting you with our message."

"Yes Kakashi-san," said Haku. "Thank you for treating me so well despite my status as an enemy ninja."

"Get outta here!" shouted Naruto with a wide grin. "My kunai hand is itching and I see a missing-nin out in the open!"

Haku giggled and ran into the forest as fast as her bandages would allow her.

"She was nice," said Nami, leaning against Naruto slightly. "Too bad she was on the wrong side."

"There are no wrong sides," said Kakashi. "When it comes to ninja, it's all about loyalty."

Kakashi was now fully recovered, abandoning his crutch for preference of his own legs. He still had some soreness, but it would pass with time.

"I understand," said Nami. "I've been reading about ninjas."

"What have you been reading?" asked Sakura.

"One of Naruto's dad's novels."

Naruto froze and attempted to sneak off but Sakura grabbed the back of his robes, prepared to beat the shit out of him.

"What book would that be?" she asked dangerously, glaring at both Naruto and Kakashi.

"What did I do?" asked Kakashi with a worried expression.

"_Tale of the Gutsy Ninja,_" she said, a bit confused. "What did you think I meant."

"Oh nothing," said Sakura, releasing Naruto's collar. Naruto let out a sigh of relief, but the daggers being glared into the back of his head told him to watch himself.

"Naruto and Sasuke are on guard duty," said Kakashi. "Naruto, I want clone patrols all over the border. I want three sent back to me if you see anything dangerous. And have a few tail Haku while you're at it."

"Got it Sensei," said Naruto, summoning about forty clones. He sent three of them after Haku, and put the rest into teams of three aside from one, who sat with him on top of Gama, who he summoned right after.

"What are you doing?" asked Sasuke, watching the remaining Naruto clone open a book.

"Studying advanced Fuuinjutsu ," said Naruto, crossing his arms. "It makes it easier to concentrate when I have clones do it for me. Ultimate multitasking."

"Can you teach me that?" asked Sasuke.

"Pff, hell no," said Naruto. He winced at the dark glare Sasuke sent his way and threw his hands up in a placating gesture. "Hey, I have way more chakra than you do, that's what makes it so easy for me to make so many clones. Any more than five will kill you."

Sasuke continued to glare at him before walking to one side of the bridge and climbing up to sit on top of the low wall that acted as a guard rail for anyone crossing. Naruto tapped Gama on the head and the toad leapt onto the opposite wall in a single bound.

"Hey Naruto," said Nami, running over. "Can I hang out with you for a while?"

Naruto didn't know how to answer, so he looked at his sensei.

"No harm for now I guess," said Kakashi. "But at the first sign of trouble, send her back with your clones to alert me."

"Alright," said Naruto, crossing his legs and patting Gama's head. The toad reached down with his massive tongue and used it to pick up Nami, setting her alongside Naruto.

"I'll never get used to that," she said with a shudder as she settled in. "How's Gamakichi?"

"That little traitor," huffed Naruto. "He went bug hunting without me this morning!"

"Uh-huh…." Mumbled Nami, wondering if that was something even worth being upset about.

* * *

Haku had been traveling for several hours, unaware of the clones tailing her. She was taking a rest in the forest, leaning against a large tree and rubbing the bandages around her torso. Her ribs were still broken and they were beginning to irritate her.

She sat down against the tree and sighed, looking around the large forest around her. She crossed her legs and began to hum to herself, picking at some leaves near the root of the tree, and jumped when an icy hiss rang in her ear.

"Are you alright?" said the voice. She slowly turned around and saw a man with straight black hair, his face hidden under a straw hat. He wore plain grey garbs with black pants and a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back. She could see a blue earring through a parting in his hair. He was leaning uncomfortably close over her shoulder, and despite his closeness, she couldn't see his face from under his hat.

"Who are you?" she hissed back at him.

"Just a good Samaritan," said the man, standing to his full height. "Kabuto, see to the poor girl's injuries, Zabuza-kun would not take kindly to his little friend returning in such a sorry state."

"Of course Orochimaru-sama," said another cold voice as a grey haired bespectacled young man a few years older than her appeared on her other side, crouching in front of her with a kind smile, his hands glowing green as he ran them over the bandaged parts of her body.

She tried to move for her senbon but found herself unable to move. She grimaced as the pain began to fade, but she couldn't help but panic at the sight of this stranger touching her body.

"Sorry," said the grey haired man with a nervous chuckle. "I had to immobilize you with this jutsu before I could start healing you. I didn't want to end up dead for helping a young lady in need."

Haku scowled at them before asking again.

"Who are you?" she snapped at them.

The first man peered down at her from under his straw hat and she saw a pair of frightening amber eyes.

"A friend," he said. "Continue there Kabuto. It reeks of toads here."

The man, Orochimaru, vanished from his spot on the ground.

Haku relaxed a bit as all pain and aches from her body vanished. Kabuto released her from his immobilization jutsu and stood up.

"That takes care of that," he said.

"Where's Zabuza-sama?" she demanded.

"I'm here Haku," said Zabuza, stepping from behind the tree, not looking at her with his arms crossed, his precious Kubikiribocho strapped to his back. "What happened?"

"I was captured by the enemy," she said quietly, looking at the ground with shame.

"Useless," muttered Zabuza as he began walking away.

"We can't fight them!" she suddenly shouted. "Gato is gone from that country! The bridge is finished! We have no use there anymore!"

"You mean you have no use there anymore!" roared Zabuza, rounding on her. "Do not tell me what I need or need not do! My tools will not talk back to me! You are my tool! You are my weapon!"

She covered her face to hide her fear and tears, shrinking away from him. He raised his sword and swung it at her.

_THUNK!_

The sword tore through the tree she was sitting under.

"Never speak to me without permission again," he growled, watching her shake below him. "Now get your fucking weapons. We're not going there for the bridge or Gato."

"Why?" she asked shakily, daring to look at his legs.

"I want to kill Kakashi Hatake," he said, walking towards the direction Orochimaru had left in. "That's all I want now."

Kabuto chuckled darkly as Haku quickly put on her equipment.

"You might want this," said Kabuto, reaching into his coat and pulling out a spare hunter-nin mask. "I liked it and took it from your room. I think you might need it more."

She glared at him and snatched the mask from his hand.

* * *

A Naruto clone peering down on the scene playing out below was met with a shock when a trio of massive snakes burst up from below him and snapped their jaws over him and his comrades, causing all three of them to vanish into smoke. The snakes curled around the branches of the trees, flicking their tongues, searching for more prey.

Satisfied that the trees were now empty, they dropped from the branches coiling into the sleeve of Orochimaru, who was sitting in a tree behind the clones' original location.

He chuckled to himself menacingly.

"He'll know I'm coming," he muttered quietly, leaping to the next tree. "But will he remember the serpent from his past?"

* * *

Naruto's eyes snapped open as the memories of his clones washed over him. Nami was sleeping soundly against him and Sasuke was reading a book he'd borrowed from Tsunami. Naruto felt a cold sweat appear on his forehead and his mouth opened and shut repeatedly in sheer terror.

He remembered the snakes. He remembered the sight of the massive blue serpent he and his father had spotted as it tore up the village. He remembered the man with white skin and horrifying amber eyes.

Even at two years old he had pretended to be strong. He put on a smile for his father and the toads. It didn't stop the nightmares. Visions of white fangs sinking into his skin. The maddening hiss of the snake-man as he ate Naruto bit by bit. He had told no one.

And now the snakes were coming.

"Naruto," said Sasuke, staring at his teammate. "What's wrong? Did your clones see something?"

Naruto's jaw opened and shut robotically as he stared at the trees.

"He's coming," Naruto choked out, pointing a shaking hand at the trees. Sasuke's expression changed to one of shock.

"Zabuza?" he demanded. "Already?"

Naruto shook his head and woke up the clone sitting behind him. The clone stared at him as Naruto's mouth refused to make any more noise. Naruto shook Nami awake and pushed her towards the clone.

"Naruto," she groaned sleepily. "What's wrong?"

"The snakes," he whispered, sweat appearing on his forehead. The clones eyes widened and it grabbed Nami forcefully and bolted the hell out of there, dragging her with it.

"Wait!" she shouted at Naruto and his clone. "What snakes?"

"Shut up!" snapped the clone as it swept her off her feet and ran at full speed toward Tazuna's house across the bridge.

"What snakes?" demanded Sasuke. "What the fuck are you talking about."

Naruto's head swiveled to his teammate and he shook out the fear for a moment.

"It's Orochimaru," Naruto said shakily, wiping the sweat off his forehead. "He was on my dad's team! He's _the _most wanted guy in the Fire Country!"

"Is he strong?" Sasuke asked, his eyes widening as he looked into the forest. Naruto made a hand sign and dispelled his clones to put himself at full capacity.

"You have no fucking clue," said Naruto. "He's stronger than the Hokage is."

Sasuke's heart skipped a beat as the two of them stared into the woods their hands held up to sign at any second.

"I really hope Kakashi-sensei gets here soon," muttered Sasuke. Naruto nodded quickly. His hands were shaking visibly. Gama croaked from under Naruto's feet.

"I'm ready kid," said the toad, his tongue sliding out from his mouth and whipping through the air. Naruto took comfort from his words and took a deep breath, calming himself and reducing the shaking in his hands.

"Let's do this," he said quietly before the massive blue serpent tore out the trees in front of the bridge and flew at the boys, hissing so loudly it sounded more like a screech.

* * *

"Sensei!" screamed the Naruto clone, dropping Nami to the ground in front of Tazuna's house and bursting through the door.

"Naruto?" said Kakashi, getting up from the kitchen table. "What's wrong?"

"Zabuza!" shouted the clone. "He brought _Orochi-fucking-maru _as backup!"

The clone was sweating heavily and shaking. His face was pale and it looked like it wanted to vomit. Kakashi's stomach did multiple somersaults and his eye widened considerably.

"No!" shouted Kakashi, running for the door. "You can dispel so Naruto knows I'm coming! Let him know I want him to _run_ as fast as he can out of there! Sasuke too!"

"I think it might be too late for that," said Naruto, gulping before poofing away.

"Sakura!" shouted Kakashi. "Get down here! It's an emergency!"

The pinkette bounded down the stairs and saw Kakashi bolt out the door, and she did her best to follow him.

Gamakichi sat on the windowsill near the entrance to the house. The little toad was visibly shaken and saw Nami brushing herself off as the Jounin and Genin rocketed towards the bridge. Gamakichi gulped, let go of his anger and hopped to Nami, bounding onto her shoulder.

"We've gotta do something!" he shouted, looking like he was going to cry.

"Why?" demanded Nami. "What's going on?"

"Naruto's gonna fight the _biggest_ bad guy in the freaking world!" screamed the little toad, tears flowing freely. "My best friend's going to die!"

* * *

Kakashi and Sakura took three steps on the bridge before the Jounin had to grab his student and throw both of them to the ground, narrowly avoiding decapitation by Zabuza's massive blade.

"Dammit Zabuza!" shouted Kakashi, responding with two thrown Kunai that were blocked. "I don't have time for this!"

"Neither do I," replied the Demon of the Hidden Mist, twirling the massive slab of steel in his hand before jumping off the side of the bridge. Before Kakashi could say anything, the area was slowly covered in mist.

"Damn," spat Kakashi. "Be careful Sakura. You're my partner in this fight, so let me rely on you, just for today."

"Yes Sensei," she whispered shakily, holding a kunai out in front of herself. She was shivering from both fear and the icy sting of the mist on her skin. She felt her Sensei nudge her and she took a deep breath.

"We're in this together," said Kakashi quietly as the blade appeared behind his head. He ducked under it, falling into a tight crouch that made him match Sakura's height. He grabbed his forehead protector and lifted it, revealing his spinning red Sharingan eye. "Let's do this!"

He threw a shuriken at the source of the blade, but heard the water hit the bridge as the clone he'd hit dispel. He ducked another sword slash and lashed out with a kunai, killing another clone. His Sharingan flashed and he blocked two swords with two kunai. A pair of water clones were pushing at his extended arms and he was struggling to hold them off. Sakura reacted instantly and threw kunai at the clones making them back off.

The pinkette smirked and grabbed at what seemed to be empty air. She swung her arms outward and the kunai stopped flying forwards and swung around. There was very thin, yet highly durable steel wire attacked to the kunai and the pouches at her hips. She swung the kunai around the clone's throats and pulled, the wires decapitating them and turning them back into water.

"This is the result of my training with Kakashi-sensei," she said with a nervous smirk as she engaged the mechanism to retract the wire and return the kunai to her hands.

"Good work," said Kakashi, looking around.

"You haven't seen the half of it Sensei," she said. She pulled out a tag with an odd seal on it and attached it to a Kunai. She threw it at a spot near the end of a bridge.

"What is that?" asked Kakashi, looking at the tag with surprise.

"It's something that I had a Naruto clone make for me the other day," she said, looking up at her sensei. She made a quick hand seal and there were multiple clicking noises. "His sealing has been really helpful. You didn't think I was doing the dishes with Tsunami all week did you?"

"I never thought anything of the sort," said Kakashi, lying through his obviously hidden teeth. There was a sudden noise behind him and he pushed Sakura down. "Move!"

They both ducked and Zabuza was there, his sword raised. He was about to strike when his eyes widened and he vanished into thin air, multiple kunai shooting from all directions and disappearing over the side of the bridge.

"You booby-trapped the bridge?" Kakashi asked incredulously at his pupil. "And you activated it with a special tag? Interesting strategy."

"Tazuna let me do it," she said. "I have different spots that need to be activated individually all over the bridge."

"Was that the only trap in this area?" he asked quietly. She didn't answer as Zabuza appeared in front of her. She simply stepped back and there was another click, his bloodshot eyes widening. Zabuza cursed and had vanished again as shuriken shot out horizontally on his position.

Kakashi smiled proudly and pulled a scroll from his flak jacket, running through hand signs as it rolled open. There was a puff of smoke and a standard ninjato sword appeared. He grabbed the hilt in mid air and twirled it in his hand.

Kakashi grabbed the back of Sakura's dress in his hand and leapt into the air, both of them narrowly avoiding a slice for their feet. He let go of Sakura as Zabuza appeared in front of them and they began clashing violently.

"So you're the real one," grunted Kakashi as Zabuza narrowly avoided a slice to the throat. They landed and Kakashi went on the offensive, with Zabuza unable to do anything but defend due to Kakashi's close proximity. He also made a point to avoid any and all eye contact with his silver haired foe.

The two of them continued to battle it out as Sakura watched in awe. She was about to activate another trap, but screamed as she was clothes lined from the side by none other than Haku, her mask hiding her visage. Haku kept Sakura in a tight hold as she hauled her over the side of the bridge, sending them both tumbling towards the sea below.

After a full minute of falling through the thick mist, Haku did several flips with Sakura held tightly against her body.

"Deep breath!" shouted the hunter-nin. Sakura, not knowing what else to do, took a deep breath as they hit water. The wind was immediately knocked out of her and she released the air in her lungs. Haku grabbed her dress and swam to the surface. They emerged unscathed and Sakura grabbed at Haku's throat.

"What the fuck?" screeched the pinkette as she began wrestling with Haku in the water. "I thought you were our friend!"

"I am!" yelled Haku. "It's only Hatake that Zabuza-sama wants! He doesn't care about you so I wanted to get you out of harm's way!"

"Bullshit!" shouted Sakura before she felt multiple needles pressing against the skin of her neck.

"Calm down," said Haku, as cool and composed as she could be in this situation. "Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are in much more danger than Kakashi is right now!"

"What?" whispered Sakura with a look of terror as they both began to float upwards until they were standing on the surface of the water. She wasn't quite as good at waterwalking as Sasuke and Naruto, but she could still handle herself on her own.

"They are fighting the most wanted man from your village," said Haku. "Orochimaru."

* * *

Naruto and Sasuke were on top of Gama as the toad soared high in the air, the massive snake's jaws clamping down on air before it spun on their position and flew at them, hissing in fury. Naruto and Sasuke responded with their combination Oil-Fire jutsu, striking the snake on the head. It's screeched in furious pain as its head burned, swinging about wildly before it pitched itself off of the side of the bridge, falling into the abyss below.

"Interesting tactic," hissed something from behind them. They spun and spotted Orochimaru, hovering only inches from them as they flew through the air, his straw hat hiding his eyes from view, but bearing his demonic grin to the world.

The Snake Sannin grabbed both boys by their necks and swung outward, tossing them both into the trees with a snap of his elbows and a midair twirl, throwing out a leg and kicking Gama hard in the back, causing the summon to poof into nothingness.

Naruto and Sasuke went flying into tree branches and leaves, each snapping of wood marking a new wave of pain against their backs. Eventually they landed in a clearing of torn up trees and stumps.

"Shit," spat Sasuke, struggling to his feet. Orochimaru appeared in front of him and shoved a palm into his chest, sending the Uchiha stumbling backwards.

"Such language is unbecoming of Elite such as yourself," said Orochimaru, engaging Sasuke in close combat taijutsu.

He kept Sasuke on the defensive, his body moving like water through a small space, completely fluid and bending in the strangest ways. Sasuke was barely able to block or dodge any of it, and frankly, he was terrified of what this man might do. Sasuke spotted an opening and thrust his fist outward only for it to be grabbed, and his momentum reversed, sending him tumbling into the dirt.

Naruto struggled to his feet, watching his comrade take a beating from the man who had haunted the dreams of his father for so many years. He snarled and drew his sword, looking at everything in the immediate area and calculating his next move.

"You are indeed the prodigy I'd heard," said Orochimaru, stepping towards Sasuke with a glimmer in his eye. He tossed his hat away and took a stance. "Show me more."

Sasuke climbed to his feet and looked around. There was no chance for escape at this point that was certain. He considered all of his options and each one caused him to realize a little more just how bad his current situation was. Sasuke began to shake slightly, his eyes tightly closed. His breathing hitched and he was beginning to panic. He opened his eyes and saw Orochimaru grinning at him.

With a valiant war cry, thirty Naruto clones burst from the trees, their swords aglow with wind chakra. Orochimaru gave a start and spun around running through hand signs, releasing _Fuuton: Diatoppa _in a wide area, blowing most of the Narutos away. The remaining clones, ten or so, hit the ground and engaged Orochimaru, who dodged and weaved in between them, not countering at all, simply avoiding their attacks with a devious grin plastered on his pale face.

One of the Narutos came down from above and attempted to slice into Orochimaru's head, but Orochimaru grabbed it's arm and swung it down, smashing it into the dirt with a loud crushing noise before it poofed into smoke. When the smoke cleared, Orochimaru had Kusanagi and went on the offensive with a diabolical laugh, cutting down the clones left and right, avoiding every strike the clones attempted and killing them without mercy.

One of the clones nearly got a lucky shot in, avoiding a sword slash and coming at Orochimaru with his wind covered blade. Kusanagi suddenly blocked his path and steel met steel. Naruto looked up at Orochimaru with pure terror in his eyes.

"Your chakra can't even hope to cut my blade you little whelp," Orochimaru kicked the clone with devastating force, the clone vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Maybe we can!" shouted a new voice as the Tatakai no Hikigaeru burst out from the trees above and landed around Orochimaru, completely surrounding him. The clones dissipated and the Real Naruto appeared, his signature grin shining, his eyes hidden under his goggles. He flew right over Orochimaru's head and he landed next to Sasuke.

"Let's get the fuck outta here!" said Naruto. Sasuke nodded and took Naruto's hand as they both bolted into the trees.

"Two can play that game," said Orochimaru, tossing Kusanagi into the air, running through hand seals and summoning… something. Whatever it was appeared underground and caused the earth under their feet to burst up a bit. The toads kept their stances and moved in to attack, Orochimaru catching his sword and blocking a strike from Haashin the red toad and throwing him into Itami, the orange toad. Nikibi, the green toad appeared in front of Orochimaru and their blades moved at insane speeds, the sparks they created in the clearing nearly blinding. Orochimaru had to admit, these toads were probably better at kenjutsu then he was, but he was certainly faster and stronger than any one of them.

Orochimaru suddenly vanished into a body flicker, appearing behind Nibiki and trying to slice him in half. The toad back flipped and Itami appeared in front of Orochimaru, blades once again clashing at insane speeds. Haashin whistled at Nibiki and they came in from the sides. Orochimaru grinned and kicked Itami in the stomach, sending the orange toad stumbling. Orochimaru threw his hands out to the sides and snakes shot out from his sleeves, striking the toads and biting into their skin with poisonous fangs.

The toads cried out in pain and vanished in puffs of smoke. Itami gulped and tried to fight back, but was stopped by kusanagi digging into her side, forcing her to return to Mt. Myoboku.

The ground under Orochimaru's feet suddenly receded as his summon began to pursue Naruto and Sasuke, who were headed in the direction of the bridge. Orochimaru leapt into the trees, his tongue flicking from his lips as he caught onto their scent.

He spotted them heading away from him through the canopy and his tongue shot out, grabbing Naruto by the throat and swinging him down towards his seemingly invincible foe. Naruto choked out a warning to Sasuke. Sasuke stopped and turned around in time to see Naruto get dragged down through the trees.

Naruto grabbed at his sword and pulled it out, attempting to cut off Orochimaru's tongue, but the Snake Sannin released him just in time. Naruto spun and created fifteen clones to cover him while he replaced himself with a nearby broken tree branch. Orochimaru broke through the clones in an instant, appearing above Naruto and planting a foot into the small of his back. Naruto cried out in pain and felt his ribs nearly bend against the earth beneath him.

"You're impressive," said Orochimaru, picking up Naruto by a fistful of his blonde hair. Orochimaru turned the boy to face him and removed the goggles from his face. "Your father trained you well."

Naruto glared at Orochimaru and dug his fingernails into the man's arm. Orochimaru responded by punching him in the gut hard enough to make him want to vomit. Again and again and again. Orochimaru grew bored of beating him and threw Naruto into a tree, grabbing him by the throat before he could touch the ground. He began mercilessly slamming Naruto into the tree repeatedly. Naruto cried out in pain each time.

Sasuke appeared behind Orochimaru with a look of rage in his eyes and a massive red snake shot up from the ground blocking his path and suddenly turning, binding the boy in an instant. Sasuke was completely helpless to watch his friend take a beating as the snake constricted a bit more as the seconds passed.

"Don't kill him Hebi-san," said Orochimaru. "I want him to suffer a bit before he dies."

The snake hissed and stopped constricting, merely holding Sasuke in place as he watched Orochimaru dig the back of Naruto's head into the already crumbling bark of the tree. Sasuke was shaking with terror and rage at the way Orochimaru was toying with them. He had never been this afraid in his life and he couldn't do a thing about it. He couldn't even stop the tears.

"I know you're in there," said Orochimaru coldly. Naruto's eyes opened and he coughed some blood onto Orochimaru's sleeve, getting a sneer out of the man. "Wake up fox, or I will kill this child."

"W-what are you...?" Naruto stammered, tugging at Orochimaru's sleeve helplessly

"You don't know, do you?" Orochimaru said as though he should have guessed it earlier.

"Know what you slimy asshole?" Naruto groaned. He certainly was persistent. Orochimaru was certainly going to enjoy this.

"What is your birthday?" demanded Orochimaru.

"What, you gonna g-get me a present?" Nartuo let out a pained chuckle. Orochimaru slammed him into the tree again.

"Tell me!"

"October tenth!" Naruto groaned out, tears streaming down his face from the pain wracking his body.

"What happened on October the tenth twelve years ago?" shouted Orochimaru in his face.

"I don't…" Naruto started, but he stopped as he remembered. "The Kyuubi no Yoko attacked the village."

Sasuke's eyes darted in between Naruto and Orochimaru. He was struggling to get out of the Snake's hold, but to no avail.

"Naruto!" he groaned. "Do something!"

Naruto closed his eyes tight as tears began to flow freely. He was scared, and in pain. He missed his dad. He wanted nothing more than to be at home eating Ma's cooking and listening to Pa's stories. He was just a kid, and he couldn't shake the fact that he was going to die. This was it.

"_**Not today,"**_ boomed a voice in his head. Naruto's eyes shot open, his pupils having reformed into slits.

"I'm sure you think that the glorious Fourth Hokage saved the village by slaying the beast," spat Orochimaru as Naruto's visage began to change. His whisker marks were thickening and his teeth were becoming longer and sharper. "But he didn't!"

Naruto grabbed at Orochimaru's arm with now clawed hands, growling in frustration.

"The fox cannot be killed," screamed Orochimaru with delight as he watched Naruto change. "It can never be killed! It can only be sealed! And you were it!"

Naruto froze as Orochimaru's cackles echoed through the forest.

"What?" Naruto whispered.

"The Fourth Hokage chose you to be the jailer of the demon!" screamed Orochimaru, coming inches from his face. "You are the Jinchuuriki of the Nine tailed Demon Fox!"

* * *

**The truth revealed! What does Orochimaru hope to gain from torturing Naruto? What lies in store now that Naruto knows what lies within him? Will Kakashi be able to defeat Zabuza on his own? And what of Sakura? Will Jiraiya and Tsunade make it on time? Only Time Will Tell!**

_I'm really really sorry for the delay on this chapter. I hope this one lives up to your expectations!_

_Until next time._


End file.
